Fossil
by PhraxisFiction
Summary: Enter Rook, a socially awkward miser, delivery boy, pocky enthusiast, and, just recently, Pokemon Trainer. Except this is no ordinary Pokemon. It is one of the six elder Pokemon, a Behemoth brought to life. What is he to do? Hoenn Region! Rating is now changed to M!
1. Fossil 1

**Hello there PokeFans! This is my first PokeFic (or any fic, for that matter), so please go easy on the flames. Constructive criticism never hurt, but I don't want to be able to roast marshmallows with your reviews. So please, no.**

 **Also, I am hoping this to be fairly decent in length, but I am unsure if I will be able to do that. At the very least, I aim to get 100k words. A beta'r or two might help a tad bit. Thanks!**

 **Chapter One- I'm Mature?**

 **XxXxX**

 _Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap I'm gonna be late!_ I thought, sprinting down the deserted road. The morning sun beat down on the back of my neck, the excessive heat adding to my discomfort as I barrelled down the empty streets.

I was never a morning person to begin with, but summer mornings were the worst. Summer was made just for sleeping in and doing nothing. It was life's down time, where everything relaxed and prepared for the grind of winter. Which was why the early morning (it was only 10:00 o'clock!) sprint that I found myself completing was utter hell.

It really was.

Gasping for breath, I swerved around one of the metal gate posts outside of the professor's lab, hurtling myself towards the sturdy wooden doors.

I had walked through these doors countless times in my life. My official job in town was 'Messenger'. My unofficial nickname, however, was simply Flash. Here one moment, gone the next. Looking back, that was probably a pretty damn accurate name. I was always running messages, picking up packages, delivering letters, etcetera. Quite a few of my deliveries were to the Professor, so I was a common sight in his lab (I was quite famous for knocking over the pokemon bone structure moniter five times in one week).

None of the previous occasions even approached the importance of today's visit. I opened the door and barreled in, nearly knocking over one of the flustered aides. After profusely apologising, I hurried off to the lab, jogging jogging down the familiar hallways. A few people recognised me and called out, but I rushed by without sparing them a glance. This is my first day in the real world. The day I start my real life. The day I become who I was meant to be. They could wait.

For today, I shall get my pokemon.

I reached the doors of the Professor's lab and yanked them open. It was dark inside, the only light coming from blinking lights on various different machines. The smell of disinfectant was tinged in the air. Taking care to breathe through my mouth (I hated hospitals), I crept into the room slowly, fearful of disturbing the sense of ceremony that hung in the air. Near the back of the room, I saw the Professor's desk, and his form sitting in the high-backed chair behind it. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I raised my head and boldly stepped forward. It was time.

The motion-sensing lights snapped on, startling me. I yelped in surprise and jumped up, nerves jangling. The Pokemon Professor of Hoenn, Sylus Birch*, jerked awake at my dignified shriek. Blinking, he blearily looked around for half a second before focusing on me.

"Oh, you're here!" He exclaimed. "Sorry if I fell asleep waiting for you. I had a long night yesterday. Lots of paperwork and emails to look at. Boring adult stuff." The jovial Professor stopped talking for a second and rubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes. Standing up, he clapped his hands together sharply and cleared his throat.

"Alright! I know what you are here for. If you will follow me, I will lead you to the Receiver Room." With that, he turned on his heel and left. I hurried after him, just barely holding in my excitement.

You see, while there were a lot of noteworthy trainers who had gotten their starting pokemon themselves, such as Drake of the Elite Four, many powerful and influential trainers had been sponsored by Professor Birch. To be sponsored by the Professor allowed you free access to all gym battles (barring Elite Four and above level matches), the newest upgrade of the pokedex, and your own starter pokemon. It was a one-way ticket to trainerdom.

And the famed Receiver Room was where each and every single one of them had gotten their first pokemon. My breath caught in my throat when he pushed the gold-framed door open, and then we entered the room. Birch led me to the long table that dominated the center of the room, and he stopped right in front of it, turning towards me. He squared his shoulders and planted his feet firmly on the ground. His eyes seemed to clear of all worries, and he took a deep breath.

I tensed, waiting. I knew what would come next. Every trainer in Hoenn knew.

"Trainer!" Barked his gravelly voice. Here he paused, as if searching for words he had once forgotten. I waited patiently. It would come, I knew. After a few seconds of silence, Birch coughed once and then continued.

"Today is the very first day of your life as a pokemon trainer. Many people have come through these halls, each one of them seeking to start their own journeys. You are no different! While we as individuals are unique, we as trainers are united as one, with one common bond binding us all together: Pokemon!

"You, as a trainer, have a sworn oath to forever improve the abilities of yourself and those of your comrades. Do not go back on that pledge! Never go back on it! Remember who and what is truly important to you, and keep it close to yourself. Do not let others fall, but if they do, help them back up. Help others to protect their important things. Protect! Learn! Explore! Improve! These four words are the basis of all trainers. Follow them with your heart and soul, as a true trainer, and you will be rewarded. Believe in your pokemon!

"That is all I have to say to you, young journeyer. Now, a world of adventure awaits. Welcome...to the world of Pokemon."

It was here that I took a moment to swallow the lump of pride in my throat. This was the exact same speech given to hundreds of trainers. The former champion, Steven Stone, had once stood in the exact spot I was in, and heard the exact same famous words I did.

I felt blessed. I felt on top of the world. I felt like I could go and crush all of the Elite Four at once. I was invincible. Unstoppable. Unbeatable. It was wonderful.

After clearing his throat and taking a swig from the waterskin on his belt, he let himself relax back into his normal posture. After glancing at me, he let out a hearty chuckle.

"It's always amusing to see the faces of new trainers after I give this speech. The looks they have are just _priceless_." He chuckled again and waved a hand at me.

"You're gaping."

I shut my open mouth. Blushing faintly in embarrassment, I managed to hide my bright red ears and calm my burning face. Silently, I scolded myself. _Now is not the time to be awed. Now is the time for pokemon._

Setting my chin, I looked up into his bright black eyes. "Sir?" I began. "Can I get my pokemon now?"

He nodded once. "Of course you can. Actually, there is something I need to tell you about that. It concerns your starter pokemon."

"What?" I asked warily. "What about my starter?" My voice began to rise in panic at the end of the sentence. _What if something went wrong and I'm not allowed to get one? What if he ran out of pokemon and I need to wait?_ Dozens of thoughts rushed through my head, each one worse than the previous. My eyes started to dampen, and I began to hyperventilate (Remember, this was very important to me at the time, so I might have overreacted just a tad bit).

"Hey." Professor Birch's calm voice broke through my rambling thoughts. His kind eyes found mine. "It's fine. It's just that your starter is a unique pokemon. I wanted to see if that was alright with you."

The dam broke. All of my previous dread vanished as soon as it had come. It was fine. The Professor wouldn't do this to me. Of course he had a pokemon for me. He was a good, kind man. If he said he had a pokemon for me, then he had a pokemon for me. I trusted him.

Taking a deep breath, I wiped my eye with my sleeve and nodded to myself. I was okay.

"What about my starter, sir?" I asked him. After all, curiosity follows desperation. I was no exception. He had said it was unique. Hopefully that meant something awesome.

The Professor took a second long draught from his waterskin, obviously preparing for another speech.

"In order to understand the history around your starter, you must first learn about fossils. Many millions of years ago, there were many different species of pokemon that we don't have today. They were rulers of the planet, and nothing opposed them. However, due to some unexplainable event, or events, they all died out. Recently, archeologists have begun discovering ancient fossils of these elder pokemon. To better study these mysteries, six different regions from around the world each came together and created an enormous secret facility for studying these fossils.

"Each region contributed at least two different fossils to the research center, and all of the best minds in the world came to study and analyze them. One of the key functions of the center was to recreate an ancient fossil pokemon using the DNA in the fossils.

"One year and three days ago, we succeeded. We successfully made a fossil pokemon we call Aerodactyl. After the first successful attempt, we decided to continue and create more fossil pokemon. Out of the fourteen fossils used, we managed to recreate six in total. Based on ancient skeletons and fossil data we have, these elder pokemon were likely much more powerful than pokemon we have today. We nicknamed the six of them 'Behemoths', with separate scientific and normal names each. To attempt an understanding of how these Behemoths lived, ate, and acted, we decided to try to let the pokemon grow. It would unlock many mysteries of how the ancient world worked.

"We decided that letting the new (old?) pokemon be raised by a trainer would be the most beneficial to letting it grow, so each of the six fossil pokemon were shipped off to a different region, where the region's Pokemon Professor would give it to a trainer they deemed worthy enough to raise it and live with it."

He stopped here and stared intently at me. His piercing black eyes bore into mine, waiting for me to complete the train of thought. Waiting for me to figure it out.

Realisation dawned on me with crushing force. Stuttering heavily in my surprise, I managed to choke out an answer. "M-m-me?! Y-you want m-me to raise and a-a-ancient Pokemon?!"

Birch smiled at my expression. "Yes, you." He said calmly, seemingly oblivious to my shock. "I have seen you run deliveries around town. I have seen the maturity displayed. I think you deserve it." Something about that caught my ear, and I frowned slightly.

"Maturity?" I asked. "When have I shown maturity? I'm fourteen." The Professor smiled at my question.

"Exactly that." He stated, his voice firm. "You are fourteen. You didn't go rushing headlong into the woods when you turned ten, like half the other children did. You waited. You gained some field knowledge, and remained until you thought you were ready. Not everyone does that."

Although I smiled outwardly at his praise, I was cringing on the inside. I didn't have the heart tell him that the reason I hadn't left was because I had just gotten a raise as delivery boy, and I wanted to get some more cash before leaving. Hey, what can I say? I love money. Always have, always will. I hope.

Nevertheless, I was proud that the Professor had chosen me instead of the other bratty kids around town. I had originally wanted mudkip as my starter, but I figured that I could make some exceptions for the Professor. After all, he _is_ the Regional Pokemon Professor of Hoenn. After a second, I nodded.

"Alright. I will accept the fossil pokemon. I'll go along with this idea of yours, and turn this pokemon into a champion-worthy pokemon."

Birch's eyes lit up at my bold declaration. He let out a girly squeal of joy, and then rushed to the computer on the wall. Typing away at it furiously, he started to fill in the information on the trainer record. As he came to each question, he would ask me for the answer. I gladly gave them.

"Gender?"

"Male."

"Age?"

"Fourteen."

"Birthday?"

"February twelfth"

"PokeNav Number?"

"3498-331-30"

"Name?" I paused and grinned, wanting to savor the moment.

"Rookol Evendur." Here I paused again, savoring the momentary silence. After an eternity (which was probably only a few seconds), I broke the silence.

"But you can call me Rook."** I finished my sentence with an extravagant bow, feigning the pomp and bombast that nobles commonly used.

Muttering under his breath about insolent teens, Professor Birch finished entering my Trainer Data and hit 'Finish'. A little window popped up on the screen, flashing a bright green 'Trainer Accepted' blip. The-MY-pokedex chimed as the data was uploaded onto it, the electronic beep ringing through the still air.

It was official. I was a trainer.

After handing my brand new pokedex to me, the Professor's face split into a wide grin.

"Let's get you a Pokemon!"

 **XxXxX**

 *** - Professor Birch was never given a first name, so I gave him one. It is not real, I just made it up.**

 **** - Rook, pronounced as 'Rook', the chess piece.**

 **Hopefully you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it, that's for sure. Please leave any tips you guys have for my writing in the reviews, because I am new to writing and something like that would be appreciated.**

 **Yes, I already have a fossil pokemon picked out, so don't send suggestions. I promise (or I hope) that you will like the choice I made. I especially love it's second evolution.**

 **If you have pokemon ideas for Rook's Team, please let me know! I enjoy having input from others.**

 **Lastly, I would like one or two people to beta for me. If you would like to do that, please let me know in the reviews and leave your email so I can contact you. Thanks!**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **Phraxis**


	2. Fossil 2

**Hello again my beautiful readers! This is the second chapter for Fossil, my first PokeFic!**

 **If you want to Beta my new chapters, please leave an email address in your review! My apologies for the not-so-good writing as of yet, I do not have anyone to double check me and give me tips.**

 **=====Review Response=====**

 **Guest (Nice Guy):** **No, I do not write my stories when I am drunk. I do not think a sophomore in high school would be allowed to do that, and it goes against my moral code to upload drunk fics on this site. Thank you.**

 **On with the Fic!**

 **Chapter 2 - Storming Hoenn**

 **XxXxX**

I blinked. It stared up at me and blinked back. I blinked again. It yawned and rolled over, promptly falling asleep.

When Professor Birch said the word Behemoths, I had been expecting something a bit more...grand. Something along the lines of giant, grandiose, armored titans that could knock out Pokemon in a single hit. Not this little runty _thing_ in front of me.

Standing at almost 3 feet, it was barely taller than a Psyduck. Dark brown scales layered most of its body, and grey scales covered its stomach and lower jaw. A small tail sprouted from behind it, and dark orange triangular spikes jutted out from above the eyes and tail. Muscular back legs supported the Pokemon when standing (It wasn't), which made up for its pathetically puny front limbs. A peaked hump rose out of the Pokemon's back, accompanied by spiky white feathers that sprouted from the neck.

If it was bigger, it might have been somewhat intimidating, but right now, with it snoozing contentedly on the table, it looked downright pathetic. For a brief moment, I thought the Professor had played a practical joke on me.

Professor Birch clapped his big hand onto my shoulder, obviously pleased with himself.

"Rook, meet Behemoth 4, the fourth successful fossil Pokemon. Otherwise known as Tyrunt." Tyrunt gave a cute little gurgle from its spot on the table, and then turned over, scratching at empty air. I realized that I should probably be reacting somehow, but I was still coming to grips with the fact that I wouldn't be getting a towering death machine as my starter.

After recovering somewhat, I took out my new pokedex and pointed it at the sleeping creature. I pressed the scan button and waited.

 _Ding!_

 **Tyrunt,** came the mechanical voice of the pokedex, **the Royal Heir Pokemon. One of the six Behemoths, Tyrunt is the only one of its kind in the modern world. Tyrunt will throw tantrums and run wild if something happens that it does not like. Its jaws can shred steel.  
This Tyrunt knows the moves Tackle, Roar, Stomp, and Bide. This Pokemon is male.**

I quirked an eyebrow to myself, internally debating my new Pokemon. While 'Royal Heir Pokemon' sounded cool and all, the snoozing, scaly creature before me just didn't fit that image. Despite the 'Dex's information, I doubted that it could bite through steel, and the pitiful moveset it had kind of hung over it like a shroud, announcing its weakness with blazing spotlights and loud music.

I noticed that I was frowning to myself, and quickly stopped. I should be grateful to be getting any Pokemon at all, and now was not the time to be picky. The Professor might retract his deal and give me a worse starter, or none at all. I schooled my face into one of thoughtful contemplation, hoping the Professor hadn't my expression of distaste. It was too late though. He had seen it.

Birch sighed and recalled the sleeping Pokemon. I hoped that it would wake up before I released it again, because my method of waking things up involves screaming in their face and throwing things. I didn't want to get off to a bad start with my starting Pokemon. I'd read articles and trainer accounts about how a Pokemon of theirs wouldn't listen to them, and I didn't want that to happen to me. Especially not with my only Pokemon.

"Now look, Rook." Began the Professor. "I know that he isn't much, and I'll admit that he doesn't have a lot of awesome moves, but it's just a baby. After some training, and maybe an evolution, it'll grow up to be really powerful. Just believe in it. Isn't that what I was just telling you?"

I lowered my head and nodded at his question, thoroughly ashamed of myself. Of course it was a baby. Only idiots give experienced and powerful Pokemon to newbies. With the newbie's lack of control, bad things would happen. Very bad things. Strong Pokemon go to strong trainers.

Straightening up, Birch clapped a hand to my shoulder and laughed heartily.

"Don't look so glum, Rook! Everything will work out. Have some faith! Besides, you two are probably meant for each other. You'll grow to be powerful, no doubt." I nodded again, grateful for the encouragement.

After a brief overview of my starter, the Professor bade me good luck before handing me my pokeball and ushering me out of the room. Thanking the professor for all his help, I turned on my heel and left the lab. I had work to do.

I strolled down the path from the lab to the main road, steadfastly ignoring the beating sun, which had only grown stronger as it rose in the sky.

Turning onto the main road, I broke into a steady jog, heading back home.

XxXxX

"Hey, son! How'd it go with Professor Birch? Did you get your Pokemon?" The questions started as soon as I shut the door. Grinning to myself, I strode into the kitchen and smiled brightly. The rising sun shone cheerfully through the large kitchen windows, lighting up the room.

"Hey dad." I said. He smiled back at me, a cup of coffee between his hands. A second cup filled with the drink sat across from his, untouched. He motioned towards it, and I dropped heavily into the chair and pulled the caffeine towards me.

"It was fun. The Receiver Room was really cool, and I got the third generation pokedex, the newest kind. It was really neat." Across from me, my dad smiled and nodded at my account. Pulling a pack of familiar treats from his pockets, he pulled out a stick and handed it to me, saying, "Want some Pocky, Rook? Y'know, to celebrate?" Grinning, I accepted the chocolate-covered goodness and stuck it in my mouth, sighing in contentment as the flavor hit my tongue.

Say what you like, but pocky was the food of the gods. No questions.

We chatted aimlessly about trivial things, wasting the minutes away with witty banter and jokes, stories and gossip. We waited until after we finished our pocky before talking about the big stuff. It was a tradition.

Leaning back in his chair, dad took a sip of coffee and asked the most important question to all parents who have trainer children.

"What starter did you get?" He finally inquired. "Is it a good Pokemon?" I winced slightly, before pulling the pokeball out from my pocket. With a click of the button, I maximized the tiny orb. Another click, and artificial red light filled the room.

"Tyrunt." Came the Pokemon's call. Awake and chipper, he stood proudly in our small kitchen, balanced expertly on its two back legs. As I suspected, the front appendages were useless.

…

…

…

"Is it from another region or something?" Asked my dad. He wore a confused look as he scratched his head. "It definitely doesn't live in Hoenn. I would have recognized it."

I returned my Pokemon with another click of the button. Minimizing it, I set it on the table between us. "You could say that." I began. "But that would be the understatement of the year." I glanced up, and, seeing my father's confused looks, decided to elaborate.

I told him everything that had happened in the lab. I mean everything. Professor Birch's request, the secret fossil facility, the history of ancient Pokemon, the six Behemoths, everything.

I'm sure that the Professor wouldn't mind me telling my old man about it. After all, he never told me to keep it a secret (although that was implied), and it wasn't like I was going to broadcast it to the world. Just my dad, and maybe one or two other trusted people in my life.

By the time I finished my account of the events at the lab, my father's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. He looked at my Pokemon with new found respect, and he struggled to come up with a response. "Wow...I mean, just...wow, son." I nodded. It was a lot to take in. "That's great," he continued. "I'm sure Birch saw great potential in you if he gave you that Pokemon."

He paused to wipe his eyes with the edge of his shirt. Small choked sounds of joy came from his face, muffled by the shirt. I raised an eyebrow, surprised. You see, my father was never an emotional person. He was sort of protective of me since Mom died, but other than that, he tried not to wear his heart on his sleeve.

Yet here he was, crying into his shirt, and I unconsciously swelled as I realized that he must have been pretty proud of me to cry like that.

Although Dad almost never cried, when he did he liked to be left alone. With that in mind, I decided to retreat to my room for the time being, and let Dad calm down.

We both knew I was leaving next morning, so we could both say our goodbyes then.

XxXxX

Up in my room, with night falling, I frantically checked everything for the fifty-thousandth time, fearful of leaving something behind that I could need. Rifling through my pack, I checked things off of my mental list one more time.

 _Shirts...check.  
Pants...check.  
Socks...check.  
Sleeping bag...check.  
Emergency first aid kit...check.  
One week of trainer food...check._

 _Rope and tarp...check._

 _Potions...check._

 _Antidotes...check.  
_ I had a big pack. Once everything had been accounted for one last time, I zipped up my pack and stood up, cracking my back with weariness. I allowed a small smile to creep over my face as my gaze slid to my bed.

Lying there were two dark strips of reinforced cloth. With two strides, I reached the bed and leaned down to pick both of them up, testing their weight.

You see, these happened to be a special invention of mine. While not ground-breakingly brilliant, I was pretty sure they were unique, and that gave me pride. They worked something like this:

I had taken the standard PokeBelt, where trainers put their pokeballs, and bisected it. The PokeBelt had ten pokeball slots, so each strip had five slots. You bound them to your inner arm, and let your sleeves hide them away. That way, you could carry up to ten pokeballs with you, and keep them out of sight (I know about the Maximum Six rule. The extra slots are for quick throw pokeballs under pressure).

The way I saw it, by showing other trainers how many pokeballs (and, by extension, Pokemon) you had on your belt, you were giving them an edge. My design allowed the amount of pokeballs you had to be hidden. The psychological effect of not knowing about your opponent gave me an edge, rather than them. I thought it was neat.

Psychology, man. Psychological warfare is a valuable tool, one not often recognized by the masses.

I carefully lay my beauties next to my pack, ready to await their use the next morning. Suddenly, a I had a moment of panic before diving back into my pack. I found the potions I had packed and breathed a sigh of relief. Rezipping my pack, I changed into pajamas and climbed into bed.

My gaze fell on Tyrunt's pokeball, gleaming silently on my nightstand. My last thoughts were if my new Pokemon was happy.

Then sleep consumed me.

XxXxX

I was awake to watch the sun crest over the rooftops of my sleepy town. I tried to memorize every detail in front of me. The red tiled roofs, the dusty dirt roads. The colorful flower boxes hanging off the windows. Off a ways to my left was the park I used to frequent. I could make out the colorful welcome sign of my favorite restaurant. The bell tower that rose over the rest of the town like a sentinel, watching over us all.

I imprinted every detail into my mind.

XxXxX

Breakfast was a quiet affair. My father and I sat across the table from one another, picking at the food I made, not speaking. Despite my many flaws - greed, a very unhealthy pocky addiction, and a healthy love of psychological warfare were just a few - I was actually a pretty good cook. Good enough to like my own cooking, at least.

How I managed to eat as much as I did when my stomach thrashing like a beached Gyarados was a mystery. After I finished, I stood up and cleared my plate. I leaned over and hugged my father goodbye, which he returned hesitantly, and then ran upstairs to grab my pack.

"I guess this is goodbye, then." I said awkwardly. I fidgeted nervously on my doorstep for a moment, and then turned my back on my house and strode away. I took deep breaths to remain calm, and furiously held back the dampness in my eyes.

One step.

Two step.

Three step.

Four.

Repeat.

One step.

Two-

"Rook!" I whirled around, surprised. My father stood there, tall and proud. His eyes found mine for the briefest of seconds.

"Good luck, son! I'm sure you'll be a great trainer, but be sure to visit now and then. It'll get lonely here all by myself." He beamed at me, the widest smile I'd seen on him since Mom had died.

"Go out and make me proud, son. Take the world by storm!" As he finished, he raised one closed fist in the air. I grinned and raised my own fist, mimicking the gesture.

"The world won't know what hit them. That's a promise, Dad!" And with that, I was gone. Nothing but a few shallow footprints in the dust marked that I was there.

Hoenn had better be ready for me.

XxXxX

After the better part of an hour of walking, and with no Pokemon encounters whatsoever, I decided to take a break. Spying a clearing, I walked over and sat down next to a large, mossy boulder in the clearing center.

With a flick of my wrist, Tyrunt's pokeball appeared in my hand. I grinned, glad that my invention worked so well.

Flash.

"Tyrunt." I smiled down at it. Despite my earlier misgivings, I was determined to give this Pokemon a chance.

It walked over to me and gave me a quizzical look. It - he, I reminded myself - seemed unsure of why he was released or who I was. As I looked at him and he looked at me, I noticed how much of a deep, sparkling brown his scales were. I didn't even know brown could look that majestic.

Perhaps he had more to him than I originally gave him credit for. My decision was reinforced when he opened his mouth and grunted, showing thick white fangs that glinted in the bright sunlight.

"Hi, Tyrunt. I'm Rook, your trainer. Do you think we can be friends and work together?" I made sure to speak slowly and clearly, with a soothing tone in my voice.

While most Pokemon understood Human Speech very well, I was unsure of Tyrunt. He was from before humans even existed, so I was a bit wary if he could understand me or not.

Another thing was that some Pokemon were naturally aggressive, and didn't listen to humans by choice. It would be horrible if Tyrunt was like that.

He cocked his head to the side, seeming to consider something. At least he seemed to understand. After a brief moment of consideration, he seemed to come to a decision. He looked me dead in the eye, and waved one of his useless stubby little arms before him.

"Tyrunt." I deadpanned at him.

"You know I can't understand you, right? You don't make sense." Instead of calming him, my statement just seemed to inflame him further, because he began grunting a lot and waving his arms around. He paraded around the clearing, grunting and waving.

At one point he scratched the ground with his thick hind claws.

I watched him in bemusement, a ghost of a smile on my lips. It was somewhat amusing to see him parade around the clearing, grunting and waving and scratching around.

Eventually he made his way back to me. He was much more subdued by this point, so he just walked up to me and stared. I stared back, unimpressed with our little staring contest.

Eventually, he moved. Lowering his head a fraction, he waggled one of his arms at me. I raised an eyebrow at him, confused. He wasn't helping much. He looked back up at me and grunted fiercely, wagging his little arm with more energy.

"Do you want to shake hands? Is that want you want?" I asked. He nodded once, shortly. His little arm waggled again, and he grunted for the umpteenth time.

I allowed an enormous grin to stretch across my features, and I reached down and grasped his little outstretched arm. A small rumble of pleasure rose from the back of his throat, and I idly noted that his scales was very smooth and warm.

It was in that clearing that fossil and man became united, ready to take on the world.

I gave him an appraising look, and then rose, circling him. He stood stock still as I examined his small scaled body. Strong muscles bulged out from under his scales, easily visible. His small tail wagged slightly, a good sign. Eventually I came to the end of my inspection.

"You need a name."

"Runt?"

 **XxXxX**

 **There we go! End of chapter 2! I thank you for reading, and please don't flame the fic! If you don't like it, go read a different story. Mine stays. To the nice people out there, please review and leave me some tips, so I can improve my writing. I know I'm not the best.**

 **If you have Pokemon idea's for Rook's team (which will be only six Pokemon, unless otherwise noted), please let me know who and why.**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **-Phraxis**


	3. Fossil 3

**Hello all, and welcome to the third installment of Fossil, my first Pokefic! I still need beta'rs, so feel free to leave a way to contact you in your reviews. I need all the help I can get here.**

 **Also, HUGE thanks to Lunar Umbreon, Something dictionary related, and Cottonmouth25 for favoriting/following! It made my day to see the notification emails pop up. You're the best!**

 **=====Review Response=====**

 **Cottonmouth25:** **I am filled with thanks to you, for you have been the first positive reviewer of my story. Much gratitude. Also, thank you for all of the name ideas, but unfortunately, I already have a name for Tyrunt, as you will see later on in the chapter. However, I might use your name ideas for other Pokemon that Rook captures.  
Have fun reading!**

 **ultima-owner:** **Thank you so much for the Pokemon recommendation! I agree, the design is really badass, and I will probably fit it into the team! Watch out for Pokemon eggs! (hint hint)**

 **=====Review End=====**

 **Enough Author's Notes! I am just as excited as you are! One last thanks to everyone so far, and have fun reading.**

 **XxXxX**

I strode down the well-worn path to Oldale Town, steadfastly ignoring the muggy heat and burning sun. Tyrunt trotted next to me, his scales gleaming like murky diamonds. He and I had been talking (or me talking and he grunting) for over an hour, trying to come up with a name.

"Spike? That sounds kinda cool." Negative grunt.

"Rampage? Sounds nice." There was a slight pause, before yet another negative grunt came. We continued down the path this way, rapid-firing at each other.

"Chomp?" Negative grunt.

"Bellow?" Negative grunt.

"Malevolence?" Negative grunt. Tyrunt seemed more and more depressed. Like a bolt of lightning, it struck me that my names were becoming increasingly more and more...deadly. Unfriendly. I considered the possibility that my Pokemon might not like that, so I decided to try something new. After a few minutes of careful consideration, I hesitantly spoke again.

"How about Levi? It could stand for Leviathan. Sounds awesome, and it's not really an 'evil' name, per say. It fits you, I think." It took Tyrunt a long time to answer.

An eternity later, a positive grunt rose up from my teammate. His tail began to wag ever so slowly. A sense of completeness filled the air, and I smiled briefly in satisfaction.

My Pokemon had accepted me. I was ecstatic, although it didn't show.

"Well then, Levi," I said. "Welcome to the team."

XxXxX

"Oi, you there! Are you a trainer?" I lifted my gaze from the dusty path and looked for the source of the commotion. Not ten feet away was a kid who looked to about eight or nine years old. A standard pokeball was clutched in his hand, and he wore a determined expression.

"Yeah," I called back. "So what? You gonna challenge me to a battle or something?" He grinned and nodded vigorously, obviously pleased.

"That's right! With my Zigzagoon, we can beat anyone! Let's battle!" With that, he threw his pokeball. It exploded in a flash of light, and out came his Pokemon.

Relatively short, his Zigzagoon had spiky, coarse fur that was patterned brown and tan. It growled softly when it saw me, sizing me up as a potential threat.

I flicked my wrist, silently praying that my invention would work. Levi's pokeball appeared in my hand, primed and ready for battle. Silently cheering, I casually tossed the pokeball up, calling out the catchphrase I had wanted to try since my early childhood.

"Battle calls, Levi." He appeared on the battlefield with a low rumble. His black eyes found the Zigzagoons, and his white frill of feathers puffed up in an intimidating fashion. A growl rose from the back of his throat, and for a brief instant, I could see what Professor Birch had meant by 'Behemoth' back in the lab. I could imagine Levi, millions of years ago, hunting. Eating. Ruling. I could imagine these 'Behemoths' as Apex Predators.

"Alright, Levi," I called. His growling ceased immediately and he looked back at me. "This is our first battle together, so make it count. We're gonna win!" He grunted an affirmative and turned back to the Zigzagoon. Both its trainer and it were looking surprised at Tyrunt.

"What Pokemon is that? I've never seen it anywhere near here before. Is it from a different region or something?" Asked the trainer in front of me. I grinned ferally, thinking of the cutthroat wilderness Levi must have been descended from.

"Something like that. It's not really important. Let's battle!" The other tainer nodded, and his Zigzagoon tensed, ready. He seemed to be unsurprised about Levi, but I knew better.

I had seen the flash of uncertainty in his eyes. I had the edge. I stepped to a safe distance from the battlezone, and called out, "You can have the first move. It's fine with me either way."

Regaining his confidence, the other boy smiled a little, and then moved away from the battle. Turning back to me, he cupped his hand to his mouth and shouted to me, "It doesn't matter where your Pokemon's from. Me and Zig will tear him apart! Go, Zigzagoon! Tackle it!"

The ball of fur zigzagged towards Levi, who looked solid and ready. Deciding it was okay, I signaled for him to wait and take the attack. Levi's muscles bunched up in preparation to stave off the attack, but there was no need.

The Zigzagoon had launched itself at Levi with all its force, but just bounced off and rolled for a second, before whirling back up to its feet.

Levi looked just as surprised as I was that nothing had happened. He flashed a confused glance back at me, which I matched. Why had the Tackle done nothing?

To not be affected by a Tackle at Levi's age and skill level had to have meant that he had been much more powerful that the Zigzagoon. But to have such a power difference at such a young age...

...perhaps Professor Birch wasn't exaggerating when he said that Behemoths were much more powerful than modern Pokemon. If so, then this battle just became a lot more fun.

I let a grin creep across my face. "Levi, use Tackle." Levi didn't give any indication he had heard me, he just sprinted towards his target. The other Trainer frantically called out for Zigzagoon to dodge, but it was too late.

Levi slammed into his target, his powerful frame sending the smaller Pokemon flying. Zigzagoon hit the ground, unconscious. Levi had one-hit KO'd him.

Elation rushed through me at our victory. Our first battle, and we had won! Without even a bruise from our enemy, too!

I rushed forward and nabbed Levi, trying to swing him up into a hug. My arms locked and my knees trembled as I hauled him up. Gasping, I quickly embraced him and let him drop, panting slightly. He must have been sixty pounds! I panted lightly as Levi did a little victory dance, grunting happily and wagging his tail as he ran around the clearing.

Frowning slightly, the other trainer recalled his unconscious Zigzagoon and sighed. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a clump of money from within, immediately drawing my attention. Money had that effect on me.

Still frowning, he held out the money to my outstretched hand. "Here's your winnings." He said in a defeated tone. "You beat me, fair and square." He turned around and started walking away, probably off home to revive his Zigzagoon.

After a second, I called out after him. "Yo!" He turned, hints of surprise in his eye. "Yes?" He asked cautiously.

I grinned and raised my hand. "I'm Rook, and this is Levi," I said, gesturing to my proud Pokemon. "That was a great battle. We should do that again sometime!" His despondent expression lifted somewhat, and he grinned back at me.

"I'm John, and this is Zig," He said, waving his pokeball. "We should definitely battle again sometime. Then I can kick your butt once and for all!" Then he turned on his heel and vanished into the undergrowth.

After spending a bit more time petting Levi and praising him for his great battle, I recalled him and headed out, pride shining through my being.

And so ended the first Pokemon battle of my career.

XxXxX

After another hour of steady travel, as well as another Pokemon battle, which we dominated, we finally made it to Oldale town. Too worn out and exhausted to even consider looking around, I made a beeline for the inviting Pokecenter.

The doors slid open at my arrival with a slight chime, and I sighed in relief as the cool air washed over me.

I trudged over to the Nurse Joy on duty and patiently waited for her to finish her call. Through my sleep-filled haze, I was dimly aware of asking for a room for the night. I remember opening a door and heading straight for the bed.

I remember releasing Levi on the bed next to me.

I remember sliding my fingers over his smooth scales before sleep overtook me, and the abyss of dreams consumed me.

And so ended my first day as a Pokemon Trainer.

XxXxX

I awoke the next morning to the chime of my doorbell. I blinked blearily and saw that Levi was already up, sitting next to the chiming door and looking at me expectantly. Sighing, I got out of bed and trudged my way over to the door.

It slid open to reveal a smiling Nurse Joy, complete with a breakfast tray. I thought I had died and went to Heaven. I was too tired to eat dinner last night, so I was ravenous. I was sure Levi was the same, judging by his growls.

Nurse Joy cheerfully greeted me good morning before sweeping past me and going into my room. She set the food down on the small table off to the side, bid me good day, and left. I stared at the door for a good while, silently waiting for another angel to bring more stuff. None came.

I realized Levi had abandoned me to stand next to the table, his large black eyes just barely reaching over the table top. He gazed longingly at the bags of Pokemon food Nurse Joy had brought, completely ignoring me.

Traitor.

Ah, well. Might as well eat. I dropped heavily onto the chair and reached for a bag of Pokemon food. One of the lessons drilled into me by Professor Birch and my dad was Pokemon First.

They are more important. Besides, it wasn't like I was going to starve.

Levi rumbled happily when I pulled out one of the rather large Pokemon food bars inside. The label said that Pokemon under five feet tall should only be given a maximum of three, so I held one out.

Levi sniffed at it experimentally. I held my breath as he examined the food in front of him, before he gently opened his jaws and took the food from my hands, not even bothering to chew as he swallowed it whole.

Such was the first time I hand-fed my own Pokemon.

Slightly delirious with all my good luck so far, I reached into the bag and pulled out another bar. Holding it out, I watched with rapt fascination as the PokeTreat disappeared down his gullet.

The third bar went down much the same way. Mindful of the labels warnings, I began to pack up the box, but an urgent nudge from Levi brought my attention back to him. His big black eyes looked up at me piteously, begging.

He was still hungry.

I sighed, and pulled out another energy bar from the box. I could indulge him this once, I figured.

After another three energy bars, Levi gurgled contentedly and waddled away, finally full. I guess the old saying about Pokemon rang true. With great power comes great hunger. If Levi ate like this on a daily basis, than I might have to begin catching wild Pokemon to supplement his diet. Or Levi could. I don't hunt. Period.

I certainly couldn't afford to pay for this amount of food.

After Levi finished, I bundled up the Pokemon food and put it back on the tray. Reaching out for some food for myself, I opened the package and indulged myself on the Pokecenter's food.

XxXxX

"Okay, Levi. We need to get you a new move. Right now your moveset is pretty pitiful, and we need to fix it." I declared boldly. Levi cocked his head up at me, confusion written across his scaled face. He grunted a question, looking up at me expectantly. I could guess what he was thinking.

"Well," I began, reviewing what I had read from the pokedex, " I was looking through the pokedex, and Stealth Rock looks like a pretty simple move to start with. We'll try that one."

Another questioning grunt came, and I glanced down at him. I reached down and patted his head, comforting him. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. We can get it, just watch. We just need a place to practice."

Together we ambled down the path, heading to Petalburg. There was supposed to be a gym there, and though it was rumored to be hard, I thought we should try it. At the very least, it would give us a taste of defeat.

With this thought in mind, I strode down the path with renewed vigor, Levi by my side. I resolved to learn Stealth Rock by the time we got to Petalburg.

XxXxX

"Alright, Levi, time to learn Stealth Rock." I said, standing before my proud Pokemon. Levi grunted excitedly and waggled in place.

"The pokedex says that to complete this move, you have to feel the rocks beneath the field, and then pull them up to the ground at will. You have to be able to completely control everything beneath the battleground, and use pinpoint timing."

More grunting and waggling around. I nodded once, satisfied that Levi had gotten the concept.

"Alright, Begin!" I shouted, and Levi stilled immediately. His eyes closed as he felt for the rocks beneath him. Being part rock-type, this move should be relatively easy for him to master, but I was still a tad bit nervous. After all, this was my first time teaching a move to a Pokemon.

Levi's tail began to wag slightly, almost unconsciously. I grinned at the sight, because it meant that Levi had some measure of success. His tail wags generally meant good things.

A slight tremor swept through the ground, barely noticeable, and a huge smile broke through my face when several sharp shards of rock wormed their way to the surface. Levi shuddered once and opened his eyes, hints of weariness showing through.

His eyes caught mine, and, noticing my elated grin, looked around. Small shards of rock were arrayed in front of him, glinting faintly. His tail started beating back and forth, and he began to prance and waggle about.

I ran towards him, jumping over the rocks and kneeled next to him. I swept him into a hug, and whispered into his ear, "I knew you could do it. Nice job." Standing back up, I took several steps back and looked into his eyes.

"That said," I began, "I don't quite think we have this mastered yet. Let's try it again, and again, and again, until we get it down for good, right?" Levi grunted happily and hopped around our little training ground once more in celebration, before closing his eyes once more. We had a lot of work to do.

XxXxX

"Whew! Good work, Levi. That was a tough one. I'm glad we could pull ahead on that one." Levi rumbled happily at my praise, basking in my affection.

Levi and I had spent several more hours practicing Stealth Rock, and it was late afternoon before we had started down the path again, renewed vigor in our steps.

We had defeated three more trainers on the way to Petalburg, and we had just won our fourth victory.

The defeated trainer across from me stamped his foot in anger, a scowl written across his features.

"Damn!" He swore. "How could you beat both Lotad and Surskit with only one Pokemon? You cheated somehow, I know it!" He angrily stalked up to me and jabbed me in the chest.

"You." I raised an eyebrow at him, somewhat confused. I knew I hadn't cheated, Levi was just better. He just seemed to be unable to accept it.

"Yes?" I asked shortly, fed up with his attitude. He jabbed me in the chest again, and I growled a warning at him. I was in no mood to put up with people like him.

"I'm coming with you." He declared, and then jabbed a thumb at his chest. "The name's Kendrick Bornes. Who're you?" I raised both my eyebrows this time, my previous irritation forgotten.

"I'm Rook...and what did you mean by you're coming with me?" I questioned. He looked at me like I had two heads.

"Exactly that. You're a traveling trainer, right? You're going to visit the gyms, right? So I might as well tag along. If you can beat me, then you can beat everyone on the route to Petalburg, and I'd really like to travel with someone who's as good as you. I'm bound to learn something. So I'm coming."

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, still a little bit confused. While it would be nice to have a traveling partner, I didn't know Kendrick whatsoever. It could be very awkward to travel with a stranger, and I was awkward enough without the extra help.

Taking my silence to mean an affirmative, Kendrick turned and started to walk down the path, heading west to Petalburg. The dying evening sun shone in front of us, dipping below the treeline.

Shrugging to myself, I decided to withhold judgement and go along with it. Traveling partners would be helpful, and if wanted to come along, who was I to stop him.

As I walked, I thought back to the loophole to the move Stealth Rock that Levi and I had come up with. If it worked in the midst of battle (we hadn't had time to try it with the trainers en route to Petalburg), then the relatively simple move could become devastating.

I strode towards the setting sun, determination filling every fiber of my being. Even if I lost to the Petalburg Gym Leader, I'd give him a hell of a fight.

XxXxX

"Dang, I hate making the trip back to Petalburg. It always takes forever, man!" Complained my self-appointed traveling partner. We sat in one of the Pokecenter's free rooms, eating dinner with our Pokemon.

Kendrick had two pokemon to call his own. A Surskit (which I heard were pretty rare) and a Lotad. Surskit looked like a little blue ball with four spindly legs, and a strange yellow hat on top. Two tiny black eyes examined everything around it as it skated around the room, a tiny morsel of food in its miniscule mouth.

The Lotad looked like big lilypad, with a tiny little body and feet poking out from beneath it. A short little bill protruded from the front, and the tiny body was a deep blue. It quacked contentedly as it chewed on some food.

I sat somewhat awkwardly on the edge of my bed, passing some Pokemon food to Levi as I watched his Pokemon. After I finished feeding Levi (who had managed to fit in seven bars of food, which was not recommended for Pokemon under eight feet tall), I pulled over one of the packages of dried fruits.

I might have been worried that my Pokemon had eaten so much, had it been any other but Levi. He had eaten six bars last night, and hadn't seemed to suffer any ill effects the next day, so I figured that I should let him regulate his own food.

I reached out for a pack of dried fruit slices, intent on silencing my growling stomach.

After consuming a few dried apples, I flopped backwards onto my bed. Putting another apple piece into my mouth, I glanced over to Kendrick, who was stroking his Surskit.

"So. Ken." He frowned slightly at the nickname, but let it pass. "Why did you become a trainer? And how did you get your Pokemon? If we'll be traveling together, I'd like to know some stuff about you." Ken pursed his lips a bit, but consented with a nod of the head.

"I suppose that makes sense. Alright then, where to start? I guess I became a trainer because I wanted to be like my idol, Grant Sandson." That made a lot of sense. The current champion could inspire anyone.

Appearing on the gym circuit only years ago, Grant got all of the gym badges needed for the Ever Grande Conference in only five months, almost a new record. He then spent nearly two years single-handedly dismantling both Team Aqua and Team Magma, and putting the Legendary duo of Groudon and Kyogre back to their peaceful slumber.

Then, he vanished into thin air. Five years later, he suddenly showed up at the Ever Grande Conference and dominated the competition. He lost a total of two Pokemon the whole Conference, and only in the Finals. After defeating the Elite Four, he wrestled the title of Champion from Steven Stone in a breathtaking match of skill and strength. Though both fought valiantly, Steven's Metagross eventually lost to Grant's sixth Pokemon, a hulking Swampert named Earl.

Yes, there were many reasons to emulate Grant.

"Yeah, Grant's really cool. I hope to see him in person one day, because that'll be the best day of my life!" Ken declared boldly, thumping his chest with his fist.

"Well, you get the picture. Anyways, I got Surskit here from my cousin, Danny. He's a Pokemon breeder, and he gave me Surskit last year for my birthday. I got my liscense almost immediately after, and then, three months in, I caught Lotad. I found him hopping and quacking in the rain. I thought he was funny, and so I captured him, and we've been friends ever since." I nodded silently, satisfied by his story.

I could tell that he treated his Pokemon well, and he had gone past the stage of mere battling partners with his companions. The fact that he called Lotad a friend was a big tip-off.

What he said next completely threw me off.

"So...why did you become a trainer? You're obviously skilled, and that Pokemon of yours, Levi, is really strong."

I pushed myself up onto my elbow as I considered the question. Why did I become a trainer? Sure, I was caught up in the big Trainer Excitement phase when I was ten, along with all my other classmates, but still. After it had all calmed down, I just went about my business, and once I had enough money to quit my job, I just...went to get a Pokemon. There wasn't any thought to it.

"I actually...don't know." I began. "I just sorta...did. It was a spontaneous thing for me. People probably thought I was all mature and stuff, waiting until I was fourteen to leave, but I was just greedy. I wanted the money from my job first. After that, I just went and got a Pokemon."

Ken frowned for real this time. "Wait. You got your pokemon when you were fourteen? How long have you had Levi, exactly?"

"Two days, give or take a few hours."

...

...

...

"You're shitting me."

I shook my head. He gaped at me, his mouth flopping comically open in front of him like a beached Magikarp.

"You've had exactly two days to bond and learn with your Pokemon, and you beat both Lotad and Surskit, who I've been training for almost a year now?" I nodded my head, feeling pleased with myself.

He groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. "Somehow I have the feeling this type of thing will be commonplace with you. Arceus help us all."

Rolling my eyes at his playful antics, I flicked the light switch off and burrowed under the covers of my bed, not bothering to put on my pajamas.

"Night, Ken."

"Night, Rook. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

With Levi comfortably curled up at the foot of my bed, and the rustle of wind through the leaves, sleep ended the second day of my Training career.

XxXxX

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

"Damnit, stop!" I yelled, throwing off the offending finger.

"Took you long enough, sleepyhead." I cracked an eye open, glaring balefully up at a grinning Kendrick. "You need to rise early if you want to battle Gym Leaders. If you wait, the sign-up sheet will be all filled up by the time you get there. Trust me, I know."

"Oh yeah?" I growled. "How many badges do you have?"

Smirking, he pulled a case from his pack and opened it with a flourish. "Two gleaming badges. That's two more than you have, I believe. So stop being a smartass and get up. I know what I'm talking about."

"What two badges do you have?" I queried, genuinely curious. He held them out for me to see.

"Stone Badge and Heat Badge. Roxanne and Flannery. Flannery was really tough, and I had to challenge her three times, but I got it eventually. Her cheapo Overheat move completely barbecued Lotad every time."

I snorted in amusement of Ken's description of his battle Flannery.

"...Anyways, we should really hurry up! If you want to sign up on the gym roster, you really should do it early on in the day."

He had a fair point, even if I didn't want to admit to it. Grumbling and complaining, I pulled myself out of bed and stood up, swaying slightly with weariness.

"Time to wreck the gym, hooray." I mumbled under my breath, too tired to muster any enthusiasm. Hopefully the walk would wake me up enough so I could be coherent by the time we got there.

Recalling Levi, I left the room, and, with Ken right behind me, strode out of the Pokecenter, heading for the Gym.

XxXxX

By the time we got there, I had woken up enough that I'd be able to function properly on my own, which was a relief. It was embarrassing to be held up by Ken the whole way there.

Gazing up at the tall building in front of me, I mentally prepared myself for my first test. The looming doors of the Gym stood before me, a seemingly impossible barrier to cross.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the doors to the gym and entered, determination blazing. I strode up to the desk, where the receptionist on duty sat with a big cup of coffee.

She glanced me over, before asking what I wanted.

I froze, all coherent thought leaving me. My knees started trembling, and beads of sweat started to collect on my forehead. My breathing became faster, and my left pinkie finger began to twitch uncontrollably.

"Uhh...well...uuhhmmmm...uhh...hmmm..." Was all I could manage before Ken burst into hysterical fits of laughter. He doubled over, tears streaming from his eyes. A small worm of indignation managed to make itself heard over my panic.

Eventually, he managed to straighten up. Clasping his hand to my shoulder, he looked at the thoroughly unamused receptionist and said, "He's here for a Gym battle. He'd like to sign up."

Understanding flitted across the lady's' face, and she pulled out a piece of paper and pen. She clicked the pen, and then looked up at me expectantly.

"Name and badge number?" She questioned.

"Rook...and zero badges." I managed to mumble in response. She gave me a hard look when I mentioned my lack of badges, but made no comment.

"Right," She said, handing the paper over to me. "you're the first challenger today, so you can just head right on in. Norman's expecting a challenger by now." I grasped the paper with my sweaty hands and left, heading through the door marked 'Gym'.

The first thing I noticed upon entering was the smell. The scent of plants and fur was heavy in the air, and, seeing the greenhouse structure that made up the Gym, I understood why the Gym selled like it did.

A dirt path snaked it's way before me, leading deeper into the undergrowth. I followed it cautiously, and soon came across a large clearing, with a traditional battle rectangle drawn in the dirt in front of me. Standing there with his hands clasped behind his back was the Gym Leader, Norman.

Dark, smooth hair lay on his head, completed with matching sideburns. A few grey hairs mixed with the dark, only adding to his image of calmness and wisdom. He stood tall and proud, the image of strength and importance. Everything a Gym Leader should be.

He nodded in greeting to me, and accepted the paper from the receptionist. He gave it a quick glance-over, barely even pausing when he read that I had no badges.

"Hello, Rook. I understand this is your first Gym battle." I nodded once, trying to swallow the dry lump stuck in the back of my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ken sitting in the spectator's box. He flashed me a grin and a thumbs up, and I felt my heart lift a bit. Although I only met him yesterday, I already counted him as a friend.

I gripped Levi's pokeball tightly, anxiously waiting for the match to begin. Norman unclipped one of the three pokeballs from his belt and smiled reassuringly at me.

"Don't worry about whether you win or lose. Just treat this as another battle, and have fun." I just gripped my pokeball tighter, silently pleading for the match to begin. Norman lifted his pokeball, and threw it to the center of the field, shouting "Go, Vigoroth!"

"Levi, battle calls!" I managed to croak out, throwing his pokeball out to the ring.

The match referee, one of the Gym trainers, stepped forwards. "This will be a one-on-one battle between Norman, the Gym Leader, and Rook, the challenger. The winner is decided when one Pokemon is unable to battle, or someone forfeits. Are both parties ready?"

I nodded, mentally readying myself. Stepping back, the referee raised his hand and slashed it down. "Begin!"

Norman dominated me.

Levi could barely even hit the Vigoroth, and when he did, the bundle of fur, claws, and energy just bounced back and retaliated with even more force.

After Levi was knocked around for a good ten minutes, his Vigoroth used something called Focus Punch, and that ended the match for good. Levi was face down on the ground, panting and unable to stand up.

"The Winner is Norman, the Gym Leader! Challenger Rook, please pay the loss fee."

After paying Norman some money, I turned and sprinted back the Pokecenter, where I deposited Levi at the front desk. I then proceeded to run to my room, jump on my bed and hide under the covers.

I didn't come out for a long time.

 **XxXxX**

 **There we go! I hope you all enjoyed another chapter of Fossil, as more will be out soon (I hope). Have a good day, and if you see any good fanfics on the site, be sure to recommend them to me! Reading how other writers write helps me write (if that makes sense), so that'll help.**

 **If you want to Beta for Fossil, please leave your email or another way to contact you in the reviews. My many thanks to everyone so far.**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **-Phraxis**


	4. Fossil 4

**Welcome Everyone to another chapter of Fossil (I think it's the fourth)!**

 **I really like writing this one, so please read it. If you have any ideas, any at all, leave them in the reviews so I can read them and perhaps put them in the story!**

 **I apologize immensely! I was going through a tiny bit of rewriting because of a review that pointed out an error in my logic (thank you), and I realized something. None of my line breaks were showing up!**

 **So, I put in a different version, and now they show up. I am really sorry about that, it must have been a bit confusing at times. I fixed it. If you don't want to read back a chapter, the error was Ken beating Wattson. I changed it to Flannery.**

 **Ken has two water types. He couldn't beat an electric gym. Thank you, Cottonmouth25 for pointing that out.**

 **=====Review Response=====**

 **Cottonmouth25:** **Again, thanks for the help. Yeah, sorry about the names thing, but I will use them, just not on Levi. Maybe on a different Pokemon. Keep faith!**

 **ultima-owner:** **Yeah, I tried to make it realistic (with Levi's size, weight, and scales), and that was my result. My mental image of the battle made me laugh, too.**

 **=====End=====**

 **Thank you, GarionRiva for following!**

 **On with the chapter!**

 **XxXxX**

I left Petalburg the next day. Ken had tried to convince me to stay and see the sights of the city, but I was adamant. After purchasing some potions, antidotes, and the like, I headed out, going towards the Petalburg woods. I left early in the morning, trying to leave Ken behind, but to no avail.

"Yo, Rook!" I turned in surprise, and there was Ken, running after me. I stopped and waited for him to catch up, wondering why he was running after me.

He caught up, panting and gasping for breath. I waited for him to catch his breath, wondering why he was still following me.

He finally straightened and looked me up and down. "Why'd you leave me all alone back there, man? You just disappeared!" I was still somewhat confused as to what he was doing.

"Why are you still following me?" I questioned. He raised an eyebrow at my question.

"What'dya mean? I said that I would, so I will. For what it's worth, I'm going to follow you, so you might as well get used to it." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I was still confused.

"But you said that I was strong. I was just crushed by Norman. He ground me to dust under his heel, so why are you still following me?" Ken just rolled his eyes.

"Uh, Rook, you do know that on the regular Gym Circuit, Norman's like the fifth or sixth Gym? You've had your starter Pokemon for three days now. If you did beat Norman, or even give him a fair fight, I would have thought you were some sort of god. Please, even experienced trainers with full teams have trouble with him. I expected you to lose. There's a reason I didn't challenge him too."

Although that helped make me feel better, I still had a healthy paranoia for Petalburg's Gym. Somehow I doubted that I would go back anytime soon.

"Besides," Ken continued, grinning at me, "what are friends for? I'd be a pretty horrible partner if I just let you go off into Petalburg Woods all by yourself after a loss like that."

I thanked him, gratitude overwhelming my confusion. Ken was a friend. He would help me out if I needed it.

He waved my thanks off. "Nah, it's okay. I'm loyal to a fault. It goes against my nature to leave you all by yourself. Without me, you'd be useless. Still in bed back at the Pokecenter."

I nodded, and resumed the walk to Petalburg Woods, joking and laughing with Ken. We encountered a few other trainers on the way, but Levi easily dispatched them. Not many people could stand up to Levi, and Ken let me take on pretty much everyone that came our way.

It showed. After only three days together, Levi was already faster, stronger and had a lot more endurance than he did when I first got him.

We saw a lot of wild Pokemon, but not many of them approached us. Those that did were easily dispatched by Levi, and we let them totter off on their merry way, ditzy from the beating they had taken. I didn't capture any of the Pokemon I saw. I already had a set team in mind, and none of the Pokemon we encountered were part of that team.

XxXxX

Petalburg Woods was about a half-mile away, when Ken and I spotted a lonely hut on the edge of the sea. A dock extended into the ocean, and a boat was moored next to it.

One of the trainers we defeated mentioned something about a Mr. Briney who lives by the sea. They described him as an old hermit who ferries people to different parts of Hoenn for money.

I decided that he would be a valuable person to meet, and so me and Ken took a quick detour to his cottage. We walked up, and I was about to knock when Ken caught my arm.

I turned back to him, confused, but the question died on my lips when I saw his tense face. He motioned for me to listen, so I cupped my hand to my ear and waited. Over the sound of crashing waves, I could distinctly hear the sound of a screeching Wingull , along with frantic shrieks.

All from inside the cabin.

Thinking fast, I decided that discretion could come later. If there was an emergency, we would help to the best of our ability. If there wasn't a crisis and we had barged into a house without warning...well, I'd think of something.

I shifted back a bit, and then slammed my shoulder into the door. Its thin, papery frame shattered on impact, and Ken and I sprawled into the hut.

One quick little detail about Ken. His armpit does _not_ smell good. How did I know this? Well, maybe because my face was stuck under it. I decided that this wasn't the best place to be in, and so I shoved him off and rolled over, jumping up to my feet and surveying the room.

A tan, middle-aged man with a mop of unruly blonde hair was running around the room, screaming his head off. He was chasing a shrieking Wingull, who was thrashing around mid air and still somehow managing to stay afloat. In the corner of the room was an aged, wrinkled prune of a man, flailing his cane and also shrieking.

It was pandemonium. After my ears accustomed themselves to the noise, I leaped forward and intercepted the thrashing Wingull. I vaguely noticed that it was turning a deep shade of red, and must be choking on something. I furiously wrestled the flailing bird to the ground, earning quite a few bruises in the process.

Wingull could hit hard if they wanted to.

I dimly heard more yelling, and I was wrenched off of Wingull. Recovering, I spun around, only to be met with a bizarre sight. Ken reaching his hand _down_ the Wingull's throat, his face marred with concentration.

I could only watch, dumbfounded. What was he _thinking_?

Wingull throats had a series of extremely sharp teeth lining their throat and bill, to hold and swallow slippery fish, their main food source. If Ken screwed up, he could be badly cut, or be unable to get his arm out at all.

After about three seconds, the Wingull suddenly stopped all motion and relaxed. For a second, I thought it had died. Slowly, being careful to mind the teeth, Ken slowly withdrew his hand from its throat, something clutched in his hand.

It was a TM case, that much I could see. How a bird that small had managed to swallow a ™ case is beyond me. Setting it aside, Ken wiped off his hand and lifted the Wingull up (it had returned to its normal shade of white and blue now). He lightly brushed off the ruffled feathers, and then stood up.

He turned around and was met with utter silence and every other occupant of the tiny hut staring at him. Somewhere off to the side, a particularly loud wave crashed against the rocky cliffs.

"You never told me you were a doctor, Ken," I broke the silence. He looked over at me, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I'm not." He replied, still grinning. "Not yet. But I want to be. I will be, but it's so hard nowadays. You know how it is." He said that like it explained everything, so I let it rest. I'd ask him about that later.

I looked around at the other two occupants of the room. Both of them were as still as statues by Ken's daring move. Eventually, the old prune guy on the cot hauled himself up and ambled towards us, his cane cracking unnaturally on the floor. I held my breath, unsure of what was to happen.

Stopping right in front of us, he stood as tall as he could and looked us in the eye. Even with the cane, he was still pretty short, but his eyes held a fierceness I hadn't seen in awhile.

I waited, still somewhat tense, as his green green eyes swept over both of us. After a second, his face broke into a broad grin.

"Thank you so much for saving my darling Peeko! If you two hadn't come along, who knows what would have happened. Many thanks." Startled by his sudden change in demeanor, I stuttered and tried to say 'you're welcome', but I think it came out as "Who's Peeko?"

I was never the most social person in my life. I knew the proper responses to things people said, but I had never been given many opportunities to practice. It wasn't like my Dad and I went around the house thanking each other and stuff.

You can imagine my surprise when he cackled. It was high and reedy, but I thought it suited him perfectly. "Why," he said, "Peeko's my beautiful Pokemon! You two just saved him. Many thanks again."

I nodded, still unsure of my words. Ken acknowledged the gratitude the standard "You're very welcome, sir. It wasn't any trouble."

My thoughts were far from meeting any Mr. Briney at that point, so I turned to leave. Ken did the same, but our departure was interrupted by the younger man, who had been silent up till now.

"Wait!" We looked back, slightly confused. He stood there, holding out the TM Kent had salvaged from Peeko's throat. "I'm Mr. Briney Jr., Thomas Briney. That's my father, Bart. If you want, you can have this TM you salvaged. We don't need it, and Peeko can't learn it anyways. Take it. It's a token of our gratitude."

I shrugged and grabbed the TM, holding it up at eye level and studying it. TMs were pretty expensive. The rarest ones could get you a small fortune, at least.

The TM was colored a rusty red, and felt heavier than most other TMs (not that I had ever held one before, just sayin'...). After staring at it for a few seconds, Kent asked the inevitable question.

"So...what TM is it? From the looks of it, this one's probably a fighting-type TM, but I'd like to be sure before taking something that could be worth more than me."

Thomas' smile grew. "I believe it contains a move called Brick Break, but I'm not entirely sure."

My jaw dropped. Brick Break, in the right hands, could be sold for over six thousand dollars at auctions, and the net value was around four thousand. Not to mention that the move itself was devastating in battle, being able to destroy Light Screen and Reflect. The damage output was incredible as well.

If Pokemon could be imagined as bricks, then this move would definitely be the Brick Breaker.

Immediately, my miserly tendencies flared up, and I clutched it to my chest. I wildly looked up, and saw Thomas standing there with a huge smile on his face. He knew how much he had given us.

"Sir...uhh, Mr. Briney, sir." Stuttered out Ken. His face had gone slightly pale, and his knees were shaking gently. "Uh, thank you and all...we really appreciate it and everything, but this much? For a simple doctor procedure? We can't accept this. It's too much."

My miser side suddenly imagined me beating Ken up and leaving him in Petalburg Woods for the Shroomish, but I calmed it down. Ken was a friend. You don't kill friends.

Mr Briney Sr. just laughed, a mellower, calmer sound. Better than his dry cackle. "No, my young doctor, you saved the life of my trusted companion, Peeko. That is worth more to me than any stupid little machine. Besides, Peeko can't learn it anyways, so it's useless to me. Enjoy it!"

I nodded quickly, preventing Ken from objecting any further. Faster than Ken could blink, I awkwardly thanked both of the Brineys and ushered us out of the house. I also put the door back as I left. It wasn't like they couldn't put it out themselves, but I wanted to leave on a good note.

XxXxX

"Remind me again on why you suddenly became really possessive at Mr. Briney's house?" I sighed in exasperation and looked up at the towering trees of Petalburg Woods.

"I told you, I'm a miser. That thing, if sold, can net over six thousand dollars. That's a healthy sum of money. Besides, I wasn't gonna sell it. Levi needs a new move to learn, and I don't think he's experienced enough to try Ancient Power. The TM will automatically teach itself, he just has to master it. It's a really good move."

Ken frowned and opened his mouth again, probably to tell me off for being greedy, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"Come on. We gotta find a spot in the woods to set up camp and eat. We only have a few hours left until sunset, and we should make the most of it." With that, I strode towards the darkening Petalburg woods, flashlight at the ready.

Ken followed, still making the odd sound of disapproval from behind me, but I didn't care. I was ecstatic to get something so valuable within my first week of training.

Maybe life was looking up somewhat.

XxXxX

Let me just say this. At night, Petalburg Woods is freakin' _creepy_. With the low hanging vines, tall and intimidating trees, and the spooky ghosts everywhere, it looked like a haunted house.

After some...scary occurrences, Ken assured me that they were not, in fact, ghosts set to kill me and eat my flesh. He told me they were probably wild Pokemon wandering the woods.

But I was convinced I had a ghost stalker who wanted my blood. I could feel it.

We somehow managed to find a clearing at around three in the morning. We were dead tired and ready to drop, but we both set up camp and let our Pokemon out. They would warn us if anything came through camp.

Dazedly, I crawled into my tent and burrowed into my sleeping bag, desperately seeking the warmth. Tossing and turning, I managed to fall asleep.

Nightmares full of bloodthirsty murderers and rabid wild Pokemon hunting me danced through my head. A cackling Haunter followed me everywhere, playing Mozart's Fifth Symphony on his mp3.

I had a strange night.

XxXxX

Morning dawned bright and early. I knew this because the opening of my tent was right where the sun rose, so I was conveniently awoken by the first rays of light.

I tried to go back to sleep, but the light was too bright and shined right on my eyes, so that option was impossible. I tried moving to a different area in my tiny tent, but the light was everywhere.

Finally, I dragged myself up out of bed, and staggered into the clearing. I glanced over to Ken's tent, which was conveniently placed facing away from the rising sun. Lucky bastard. I could hear his soft snoring from here.

So I decided to wake him up. If I was to suffer, then he would too. Bear the burden of your allies, and all that. Scouting around, I found Levi, Surskit, and Lotad all piled together, snoozing contentedly.

Crouching down, I gently shook Levi awake. Small rumble rose up from the back of his throat, and his eyes lazily drifted open. He eyed me critically, taking in my horrible bed hair and my sleep-smudged eyes.

Gently removing himself from the pile of limbs and bodies, he stood up and yawned widely. His teeth glimmered in the sun. The early morning dew had coalesced on his scales, and they gleamed like polished diamonds.

Crouching down on the ground, I conspiratorially waved him over and told him the plan.

Back a few days ago when it was just me and Levi, before we met Ken, I discovered something really neat about Levi. While constricting the back of his throat, he could make a choked roaring sound that made the air seem to vibrate. I don't know what it could have been used for, but it was intimidating.

After creeping over to Ken's tent and confirming he was still asleep, I waved Levi over. He positioned himself at the front of the tent, right next to Ken's head, and waited. I motioned for him to continue, giggling silently, and he happily agreed.

A breathtaking roar split the silence of dawn like a hot knife through butter. Off in the distance a flock of roosting Taillow burst out of treetops and flew off, screeching. Surskit and Lotad leaped to their feet, shuddering and looking around for the source of the noise.

Ken screamed higher than I had ever heard in my life. He jerked and tumbled around inside the tent, eventually wrapping himself up (intentional, I'm sure) in his bag and his now-collapsed tent.

A pair of glaring eyes found mine, and I burst out in a peal of laughter. I lost balance and fell backwards, landing on the earth. I rolled back and forth on the ground, clutching my sides and shrieking with laughter. I thought my ribs would bust open, but it was worth every second.

Eventually, I regained bodily functions, and helped him out of his tent. He kept glaring at me and Levi the whole time, and I kept chuckling every now and then, but we were mostly civil.

Without a word, he stalked off, probably to get firewood or nurse his wounded pride (or both).

I was aware we had gotten off to a bad start for the day, but I didn't care. After seeing his reaction, I felt like the top of the world.

Still chuckling to myself, I packed up our campsite, ready to leave after breakfast.

XxXxX

Kent still wasn't talking to me. Apparently I had mortally wounded his sense of pride, because he was taking more time to heal than I thought. Oh well.

After leaving camp, we had trekked around the vast expanse of forest for four hours. Not a word had passed between us in that time. I had given Kent some space to recover.

After aimlessly wandering for hours, I called for a rest stop, breaking the dismal silence between us. Kent seemed to have cooled off somewhat, because he nodded and recalled Lotad. We sat down on the edge of path, and I leaned back against the bark of a tree.

I must've dozed off, because when I came to, my face felt like a brick was on it. I tried to crack an eye open, but the only thing I saw was a blurry form perched on my face. It leaned down and peered inquisitively down at me.

"Nuzleaf." It said with a note of finality. I shrieked and leaped up, throwing it off. Kent was nowhere to be seen, but there was someone - or something - in the clearing with me.

This Pokemon looked to be about as tall as Levi, and was colored mostly brown and grey. A large leaf rose out of it's head, and a long pointed nose was a prominent feature on its face. Large, round, grey thighs were another prominent feature, rounding out the whole appearance quite nicely.

It was a Nuzleaf, one of the elusive musicians of the forest. I felt my breath catch in my throat, and I flicked out Levi's pokeball. "Battle c _a~_ lls, Levi!" I sang. Here was the first Pokemon I had seen that was on my list.

My list was _the_ list. The list with my (hopeful) Pokemon on it. Actually, Nuzleaf itself wasn't on the list. It's evolved form, Shiftry, definitely was. The ninja grass Pokemon was one of the first Pokemon I had considered putting on the list, and after looking it up, I was even more convinced that I needed a Shiftry.

Not to say that Nuzleaf weren't awesome. Just that Shiftry are better.

Anyways, Levi sprang out with a low rumble, his eyes immediately finding his target. The Nuzleaf looked a bit taken aback by my quick release of my Pokemon, but soon settled into its own defensive stance.

Levi rumbled a question at me, and I answered what I hoped he had asked. "Yeah, that's our newest teammate. We need to capture it and befriend it, or else we're screwed." I let the reminder hang in the air.

Levi grunted an acknowledgement and settled back on his haunches. After our loss at Norman's Gym, and our subsequent domination of the trainers to Petalburg Woods, Levi had become less uptight about battles. He still fought with all his might, and was still a battle freak, but wasn't as rigid or strict about battling.

He was more laid back now, and a lot more efficient than he used to be.

After the customary three-second stare-down at the beginning of battles, I shouted out, "Levi, use Stealth Rock!" Levi tensed up, and then relaxed soon after. No visible changes appeared on the surface of the field, and I prayed to Arceus our strategy would work.

Nuzleaf rushed forwards, and then leaped into the air. Spinning while airborne, it launched a hail of razor sharp leaves at Levi. At my command, Levi jumped off to the left, effectively dodging the leaves, and then watched the Nuzleaf as it gracefully somersaulted back to the ground.

I grinned when it landed and shouted, "Now, Levi!" He grunted again and then tensed for the briefest second. Sharp stones poked up from beneath the dirt, right where Nuzleaf would land.

As soon as it touched the ground, Nuzleaf's feet were impaled by the stones, and it moaned in pain before hopping away, limping slightly.

I think our Stealth Rock deserves some explanation. The basic concept behind the move is that when your opponent calls out their next Pokemon, your Pokemon's energy pulls up the stones, stabbing them and inflicting damage.

We decided, why wait? If we can directly link our consciousness to the stones, then we can pull them up on command. So, if an airborne foe, like Nuzleaf had been, lands, we can simply pull up stones and stab them. If a Pokemon is knocked back, we can make them get knocked back onto the stones, further damaging them.

It's so simple, no one bothered to think of it, bypassing the move in favor of more powerful ones. With our secret formula, we can deal a lot more damage than we normally could.

I thought it was genius.

Taking advantage of Nuzleaf's momentary surprise, I ordered Levi to do a Stomp. Rushing forward, Levi bypassed his opponent's cursory swipe and raised one foot above it. He brought it down with a growl, and Nuzleaf collapsed beneath his foot.

Rearing his head back, Levi let out a roar of triumph, his foot still on top of the Nuzleaf. Suddenly, the Nuzleaf vanished, and reappeared a few feet away from Levi, panting heavily. Bruises decorated it, and the Nuzleaf had a nice foot-shaped print on it's chest, but it was still standing.

I blinked, impressed by the resilience displayed. With the notable exception of Norman and one or two others, all Pokemon I had encountered had gone down with one hit. The fact that Nuzleaf was still standing was quite a feat.

I wanted it even more now.

I called out another Stomp, but Nuzleaf jumped away, and up into a tree branch. Not giving Levi a second to look for it, Nuzleaf leaped from the branch, and landed right on top of Levi, his fist going for Levi's skull.

I called out a warning, but there was no need. Like many other moves before it, the Pound attack harmlessly bounced off Levi's head, and Nuzleaf rolled off Levi. More sharp stones wiggled up to the surface, and Nuzleaf landed right on them, damaging himself further.

Suddenly, without any direction from me, Levi's fangs glowed an unholy black shade, and he chomped down on the Nuzleaf in front of him. His dark fangs bled with an unholy aura, and his neck muscles bulged with the force of his bite.

The Nuzleaf writhed for a second, before finally falling unconscious. I couldn't believe it. Levi had learned Bite all on his own. I had a five-second mind party, before a groan from Nuzleaf brought me back to reality.

Praying to Arceus, I quickly flicked out one of the empty pokeballs that lined my inner arm and threw as hard as I could at Nuzleaf. With an audible _click_ , and a bright flash of red light, Nuzleaf disappeared. I waited with baited breath as the pokeball shook once, twice, three times, before finally signifying a successful capture with a _ding!_

…

…

...

"WHOOOOO-HOOOO!" I screamed. Levi joined in, roaring and grunting. We yelled and shouted and danced, until all of our pent-up anxiety was gone, all screamed out.

Then we proceeded to get into a giant wrestling match of joy (I think I won, Levi thinks he did), followed by a dance-off (I definitely won).

Eventually, we flopped down next to each other, too worn out to do much more. After some insistent nudging from Levi (I was beginning to get the gist of what he wanted after a time), I relented and pulled out the Nuzleaf's pokeball.

Flipping out my 'Dex, I pressed Nuzleaf's pokeball to it and waited. I watched Levi's wagging tail instead of the loading screen.

 _Ding!_

 **Nuzleaf, the Wily Pokemon. Nuzleaf like to make music with their leaves, and love to scare people. Rumor has it that if defeated and captured fairly, the Nuzleaf will seek to be trained by the capturer to improve itself.**

 **This Nuzleaf is male, and knows the moves Pound, Fake Out, Nature Power, Razor Leaf, and Torment.**

I grinned widely and pocketed Nuzleaf's pokeball. I would release him later, so we could meet in a proper environment. I crouched down and congratulated Levi, running my hands over his smooth scales.

After about ten minutes, something occurred to me, and I grinned down at Levi. He looked back up at me, and grunted a question.

"You know," I began, "We're gonna have to name him."

"Ty?"

 **XxXxX**

 **There we go! Another chapter done and written. I certainly had fun writing this, especially the battle scene, so let me know how I did on the battle? Was it alright?**

 **I hope you all enjoyed Fossil!**

 **Remember to follow and favorite Fossil, so I can continue making more! I love the story, I love my plans for it, and I don't want any of it to go to waste.**

 **If you have Pokemon recommendations, please leave them! If you have any OC or plot ideas, leave them! All is welcome.**

 **Thank you so much for reading.**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **-Phraxis**


	5. Fossil 5

**Hello, and welcome to the fifth installment of Fossil! I thank everyone who has reviewed up until now, as well as those of you who have favorited, followed, and the like. You're the best!**

 **I am really sorry that I haven't updated in a few days. I had something important to do, and I couldn't find time to get to my computer. Sorry.**

 **Special thanks to ClassicalInvention and randallxcon for following my humble little story.**

 **If you have any plot ideas, or OC's or Pokemon recommendations, or anything at all, please tell me about them in the reviews! I enjoy reading those!**

 **=====Review Response=====**

 **Cottonmouth25:** **Don't worry, no offence taken. I should've done my research, that's all. Thank you for the recommendations, I really appreciated them. Also, why Dustox (ha)? Lastly, thanks for telling my the chapter was great. That really meant alot to me.**

 **randallxcon:** **SO MANY RECOMMENDATIONS! Thank you so much for the praise on my story, and I am actually going to give Rook one of the Pokemon you recommended, so look out for that (not for a while, though…). I doubt that I'll put shinies in, but who knows?**

 **ultima-owner:** **Quite the wake-up roar, yes indeed. Your plot idea is indeed memorable, and I had never thought about having that before. Nice idea! I'm gonna try to work it in.**

 **=====End=====**

 **On with the chapter!**

 **XxXxX**

When Ken finally came back to camp, he found me there, leaning up against a nearby tree, smirking. I casually tossed Nuzleaf's Pokeball up and down. I felt awesome, and I deserved it.

Ken walked over casually, all traces of our previous argument gone. It appeared that he had restored his former pride, and was no longer angry.

"What's with the smirk, Rook? Did someone name you king in my absence, or something?" I shook my head mutely, still smirking widely. He raised an eyebrow in exasperation, but asked me anyways.

"Alright, fine. You win. Why are you smirking like a king and tossing Levi's pokeball up and down?" I tossed the pokeball once more, catching it with a flourish. I held it out for him to see, and, if possible, grinned wider.

"Let's just say this isn't Levi's pokeball. Guess what I got?" Realization lit up Ken's face. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly, and he stepped forwards in anticipation.

"You mean…" He began, something akin to wonderment written across his face. "That's right," I finished. "I have officially caught my first wild Pokemon!" His face broke into a wild grin, and he grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. His face was alit with happiness and excitement, and overall he seemed more happy than I did.

"So," he said, after he had stopped acting like a lunatic, "What Pokemon did you get?" I held up Nuzleaf's pokeball and said, "A Nuzleaf. It was tough, too. It took a Stomp attack, a Bite (yes, Levi learned that move, Ken), and several Stealth Rock damage things before going down. He'll be a valuable member, that's for sure."

Ken nodded fervently in agreement. As far as I knew, Shiftry were rare, and well trained ones were very coveted. They were hard to catch, even in their pre evolved form, and thus weren't seen that often.

After shaking his head once more in amazement (or was it disbelief?), Ken grabbed his pokeballs and released his friends.

I realized what he had in mind, and I quickly released Levi. After giving Ken's Pokemon a blow-by-blow account of our battle (with Levi adding in a live demonstration), I told Ken's Pokemon what we were going to do for the new teammate.

After everyone had gotten in a semicircle around me, I maximized Nuzleaf's pokeball and released him into the middle of the circle.

With a flash of red light, Nuzleaf appeared on the field, still battered and bruised, but awake. His eyes darted about warily, before his eyes met mine. They widened a fraction of a millimeter, and he approached me tentatively, slowly. An ever-present warning rumble from Levi kept it wary, but to me, it didn't look hostile.

Nuzleaf (it was a he, wasn't he?) got closer, and I got to really admire him. His body moved gracefully, and his every movement seemed controlled. His rough bark-colored skin was lightly dappled in the afternoon light, and his head leaf thing seemed to radiate with the sun's energy.

He reached me, and stared up. I stared back down at him, fully aware that this was the same thing that happened with Levi. I could wait for a bit if need be, it wasn't like I was in a hurry or anything.

For many minutes, we surveyed each other, Man and Pokemon. Everyone and everything around us was perfectly still and silent. Even Levi's rumbles had ceased. Everyone was caught up in the moment.

Somewhere off in the woods, a twig snapped. Ken's finger twitched, but there was no reaction other than that. I breathed evenly, and kept my eye steady. I needed to win this Pokemon's trust if it was going to be a good addition.

Suddenly without warning, Nuzleaf dropped to the ground, kneeling in a feudal fashion before me. He started speaking very fast, all the while looking me dead in the eye.

"Leafl, leaf, Nuzleaf, nuz. Nu nuz nuz leaf nuz. Nuzleaf. Nuzleaf, leaf nuz." Something like that. This continued for around ten seconds, after which Nuzleaf broke eye contact and lowered his head. My breath caught in my throat as I realised what he was doing.

Nuzleaf was bowing to me. He knelt there, stock still, waiting for a reaction.

Like a dam, all of my pent-up feelings burst out, and I hugged Nuzleaf as hard as I could. He tensed slightly in surprise, but soon relaxed and lightly hugged back. I stood up...and almost immediately fell over.

My knees were shaky with relief, so I couldn't stand well. I tried to get up once again, but I couldn't do it, and I collapsed. Ken rushed forward and helped me up, draping one of my arms over his shoulder.

I felt some pressure on my other side, and I looked down to see Nuzleaf, holding up my other side. The Pokemon smiled happily up at me and laughed, the rough and musical sound echoed throughout the clearing.

Ken led me over to a tree base, which I gladly sat down next to. I leaned my back up against it, welcoming the support. I was still a bit shaky from all the excitement of today.

Levi came over, and grunted happily at me. I smiled back, happy with everything around me.

I had a new Pokemon. Levi had an amazing battle. Ken seemed to have recovered from my prank, and all was right in the world.

Levi rumbled a greeting at Nuzleaf, who nodded back happily. They had already seemed to be friendly, and didn't appear to hold any grudges towards one another. That was good, I didn't want fighting Pokemon, especially with my new one. Which reminded me…

"Hey, Nuzleaf." He glanced up at me, his face passive. I detected the hint of a question in his small brown eyes, along with something else. It almost felt like a vassal asking a King his bidding, like 'How may I serve thee, your Majesty', or something.

It was only slightly disconcerting.

"We need to get you a name." He cocked his head to the side, confusion in his eyes. I gestured over to my starter. "Y'know, a name. Like Levi. You need to be special, because there are more than one Nuzleaf around. You need to be distinguished, unique. It'd be really cool, right?"

Understanding dawned in Nuzleaf's eyes, and he nodded hesitantly. I returned the nod confidently. Despite my Pokemon's misgivings, I was sure I could find a name that he liked.

XxXxX

Two hours later, and I was still trying to come up with a suitable name for my picky Pokemon. Ken had gone off in look for some firewood, and I was in charge of setting up the tents. I drove a spike into the ground with my mallet, and randomly spouted a name.

"Steve?" Nuzleaf shook his head yet again, trying to hide his weariness. We were both worn out, mentally and physically, to keep going for much longer, but I was determined to find a name for Nuzleaf before I went to bed.

I would get him a name, or else I couldn't call myself a trainer.

"Tony? Has a nice ring to it." He shook his head again, and I sighed. I jabbed the last spike into the ground with my mallet and stood, pulling the half-formed tent up with me. I set in the structure poles and pulled the tent up. It held.

I stepped back, admiring my work. The tent looked sturdy enough, and should hold up in the rain.

Inspiration struck me like a bolt of lightning. I glanced down to my poor Nuzleaf, and then voiced my final option.

"Hey, Nuzleaf. How about I call you Dice? It was such a gamble as to whether I'd actually catch a Nuzleaf to begin with, so the name fits." Nuzleaf's eyes lit up, and his back straightened a tiny bit. He seemed to suddenly fill with newfound, energy, and I knew the name had stuck.

Dice bowed his head to me in a gesture of gratitude, and I pulled him into a hug. He hugged back, and I felt very happy.

"Well, Dice. Welcome to the team. I hope that you like it here in our little cult." I released Dice from the hug and stood up. I waved at him to follow me, and then walked over to Levi and the other Pokemon.

"Let's go meet your team, shall we?"

XxXxX

We left bright and early next morning. The rising sun woke both of us this time, and Dice was an early riser anyways. After we had eaten breakfast (cold tasteless porridge mush), we set out along the path.

As we trekked along, we gradually came across more and more bug catchers. The obsessive Pokemon catchers always had lots of low-level bug Pokemon with them, and they were easy pickings.

So far, Levi had gone and singlehandedly wiped out six teams, without even a scratch on himself. I had kept Dice out of the fights, mostly because he had a typing disadvantage, and also that I wasn't entirely sure how strong he was.

I'd have to test him after we got out of the forest. I couldn't have an unknown Pokemon with me, and then challenge the Rustboro Gym. That's suicide.

I started daydreaming as I walked, planning out Dice's test. I'd definitely have to include an agility and speed test, as well as strength and endurance runs. Maybe I could-

"OH SHIIIIIT!" I jumped about a foot in the air when the scream pierced the woods. I whirled around, searching for the racket. Ken was just as surprised as I was, and was also searching around.

Off to the right of the trail, one of the bushes rustled ominously, drawing my attention. I signalled Ken over and pointed out the bush. The rustling grew, and I could distinctly hear the sound of snapping branches not too far away, approaching fast as the screaming and cursing grew closer.

I nervously released Levi and prepared myself for whatever it was that would come out of the bush. Ken did the same, releasing his Surskit and creeping backwards.

The snapping grew closer, and the screams grew louder. Just as I was about to flee in panic, something leapt out of the bushes. With a knee jerk reflex, I screamed and ordered Levi to Stomp.

In hindsight, it's probably a good idea to look before you shoot. Or in this case, Stomp. Because we had just attacked one of the numerous Bug Catchers that roamed the woods.

Levi's foot came crashing down on the hapless man. His screaming stopped, and his body relaxed. Now that the forest was silent of his screams, I became acutely aware of all the other sounds of the woods.

The rustle of leaves in the breeze. The low buzz in the air. The breath of winds through the trees.

And then the reality of what I had just done came crashing down on me. I had attacked another person. Technically Levi did, but I had ordered it, and immediately all of my attention zeroed in on the prone man before me.

 _Oh Damn,_ I thought, panicking. _What did we do? What if he's hurt? We're nowhere near civilization, it could take days to get him to a hospital!_

I ran over and dropped to my knee, trying to roll him over and see if he was still alive. He moaned faintly, and I sighed in relief. He was alright. Just unconscious.

Now that my panic attack was gone, I was able to think clearly.

 _Step one,_ I thought to myself. _Get this guy up._ I moved over to make room for Ken, and together we managed to get him on his back.

 _Step Two. Get rid of the annoying buzzing sounds...wait...Buzzing?!_ Indeed, there was buzzing all around us, and it looked like Ken had noticed it too. He stood up slowly and recalled Surskit. I recalled Levi and stood up too, slowly backing away from the edge of the path.

"Rook?" He said quietly, his voice barely audible. The buzzing was growing louder. "What exactly lives in Petalburg Woods?" I quickly ran the list over in my head.

"Well, there's Wurmple, but they're harmless for the most part. They're too slow to do anything. There's Shroomish and Zigzagoon, but those are mostly harmless as well." Ken nodded slowly, and I continued down the list, trying to ignore the thunderous buzzing.

"There's Cascoon and Silcoon everywhere, but they don't move. The ones that evolve can become Beautifly, but they're passive. That just leaves…" Ken nodded, confirming my suspicions. My head sank.

"The Dustox." I finished numbly. The crazy bug catcher must have pissed them off.

The giant purple insects burst from the woods, buzzing angrily. They zeroed in on me and Ken, and then swarmed us, stinging and biting and releasing their toxins into the air. One of them chomped on my arm, and another one managed to stab my leg.

I ran. Dustox venom could be lethal to humans if enough was taken in, and those Dustox looked mad enough to attack a Rhydon. I turned and sprinted into the woods, Ken hot on my heels. Apparently running makes it worse, because all of the Dustox flew after us, buzzing loudly.

I have no clue how far we ran, it was all just a blur. My heart pounded at breakneck pace as I hurtled over logs, leapt over stumps, and rolled down hills. Everything blurred by.

Eventually, the Dustox got left behind, and stopped pursuing us. We didn't care. We ran as if Darkrai himself was pursuing us. Eventually, we collapsed in exhaustion at the edge of a clearing.

Panting, Ken asked me, "Did they get you?" I nodded. "Yeah. A sting on my leg, and one of them decided to snack on my arm." Ken chuckled dryly.

"What about you? You okay?" He waved off my concerns. "Nah, I just inhaled some of the toxins. I'll be fine. However," he said, pulling himself over to me, "we need to bind those wounds with something, or else they'll get even more infected. We'd better get out of the forest soon, too. I really don't want that venom in you much longer."

I managed a rough laugh. "What's this, Ken? You care? Oh, I feel just honored."

"Shut up and let me patch you up, ya moron." He heaved up into a sitting position, and then opened his pack. Somehow, we had kept them in our wild chase with the Dustox.

Ken opened the bag and reached in, ruffling around for our first aid kit. He pulled it out and opened it, only to suddenly still. I frowned and and opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, but he violently shushed me.

"Somethings not right about this clearing. It's too quiet." Now that he pointed it out, I noticed it too. There was no ever-present hum of life around us. It was silent.

I frowned again. I glanced around, looking for something to explain this, and my eyes fell on the tree. It was absolutely massive, and dominated the center of the clearing. The bark was spiky and grey, and had circular patterns on it...wait.

I was pretty sure that was not bark. Spiky trees do not exist. Grey spiky trees do not exist.

I peered closer, and I jerked in shock. If I was standing up, I most certainly would have fallen down. The three had just _moved_. Not a lot, but the bark had shifted. I had seen it.

Judging by the look on Ken's face, he had seen it too. now, if only - there it was again! - the bark had shifted!

Upon closer examination, the tree was actually covered head to toe (or was it leaf to root?) in Silcoon. I informed Ken of my discovery (I had good eyesight) and he stiffened. He made to get up and leave with haste, but he was stopped by me.

Or rather, what I saw.

The tree was glowing. Oh, dear Arceus, it was glowing like the sun. I watched, amazed, as one by one, all of the Silcoon split open, and a fresh Beatifly emerged from each one.

The glowing faded, and the Beautifly spread their wings. Sparkles showered down around us, and the sun glinted off of the Pokemon's beautiful wings.

Suddenly, the air was filled with Beautifly. The air glowed and sparkled, and the soft rustle of their velvety wings reached out to me, soothing me and comforting me. I relaxed, and their pleasing aura enveloped me, caressing me softly.

The rustle of their many wings draped over me like a blanket, and I closed my eyes. I was filled with peace. It was beautiful. I could feel their delicate forms brush by my face, and I laughed softly.

And just like that, it disappeared. I blinked once in surprise, and then looked up at the sky, straining my eyes to see something - anything - of those marvelous creatures.

Far off in the distance, I could just barely make out their glimmering specks, diamonds glinting in the sky.

I would forever remember that day.

XxXxX

I believe that I mentioned the forest was creepy at night. Well, it gets a lot worse when you're at night, wandering the woods, and you're _crippled._

Yeah, apparently the toxins had been worse than expected, and now my whole leg was poisoned. Ken had managed to halt the poison's spread, but it could only last so long. Sooner or later, bad stuff would happen.

So now I have to hobble along (because my leg feels like a wooden stake) in the pitch black woods.

If only life would be nice to me.

XxXxX

After about three hours, we managed to find a trail leading out of the woods. We had a quick celebration of awesomeness, and then we trekked out of the woods, cheered immensely. We thought that we would have to wander the forest for days, looking for some sign of humanity.

We were very grateful that we didn't have to trailblaze, and thanked whoever sent us this small miracle.

After a whole night of trekking steadfastly on the trail, we broke through the woods and emerged, dirty, tired, and hungry, on the other side of the Petalburg Woods.

I sighed with happiness as the rising sun hit me in the face. An immense lake stretched out before us, crisscrossed with bridges and supports that stretched to the far side.

Ken and I managed to make it to the edge of the lake before flopping down next to it and relaxing, letting the warm sun soak into our bones. I massaged my throbbing leg absently, and then gazed out across the lake. In the far distance, I could make out the tallest buildings in Rustboro peeking over the treeline.

"I am _never_ going back there again in my life." I said. I tried to put as much vehemence into my voice, but I don't think it worked very well.

Ken groaned an affirmative. "Damn right, Rook. I'm never going back either. That trek was _not_ worth the effort. I mean, I'd heard stories about that place, but I thought it was all just a load of bull."

I glanced at him. Something seemed off. "Ken. How did you get to Route 102 if you didn't go through the Woods? You got the badge from Roxanne, so you must have been to Rustboro before. How did you get back to where I met you?"

My question didn't even faze Ken in the slightest. "I took the long way. After going and getting Flannery's badge, I trekked down past Mauville and into Slateport. I just hired a ferry to take me across the bay to Oldale. Easy."

He didn't notice my killer glare until it was too late.

"You mean to tell me," I began, fuming in anger, "That we could've hired a ferry to take us to Slateport, and not even gone through these damn woods?! Why didn't you tell me that, I definitely would've taken that route!"

Ken crossed his arms in annoyance and glared at me. "Well excuse me for _following_ _you_ to Petalburg, where you challenged the _fifth_ Gym on the circuit. Sorry for _following you_ into Petalburg woods, and for not speaking up about something that was common knowledge!"  
I threw my hands up in the air a flopped back down on the lakefront. "I hate it when people are right. Especially when they're right at my expense."

Ken remained silent/ not willing to provoke another argument. Together, Ken and I watched the sun rise and the lake twinkle and the grass sway. At one point, fisherman began trickling onto the docks, casting their hooks and settling in for a day of fishing.

Really, where was the appeal in fishing? Come on, all you do is sit around all day, and when you do manage to catch something, half the time it would be a useless Magikarp. Bo _ring_

"We might as well get moving. We need to get you to a hospital and check on your leg." Ken hauled himself up and held a hand out to pull me up. I gratefully took it, and we staggered off to the bridges.

We tried to navigate the maze of bridges, we really did. But we ended up having to ask for directions at least three times.

As we navigated the bridges, lots of fishermen headed our way and asked for a battle, but backed off when they saw my leg. Apparently pity is good for something, because only one person actually challenged us (Ken took him out in two moves).

After leaving the labyrinth of twisting bridges, we staggered our way up the path to the city. The tall gates stood wide open, welcoming. The smells and sounds of a city washed over me, and I silently thanked the Legendaries to be back in civilization.

 **XxXxX**

 **Fifth chapter, written and done! Sorry this one took so long, I had some other things I needed to do. My apologies! Thank you for being patient.**

 **I still need some people willing to personally beta Fossil (I don't know how it works on the site itself, and I'm too lazy to find out). If you want, please send me some way to contact you! Please.**

 **If you guys have any ideas about anything (OC's, Pokemon, Pokemon names, plot ideas, events, etc.) please leave them in the reviews! (Especially a good water/fire/fighting type. I'm looking for those, but any help). I enjoy having other's opinions.**

 **Please remember to follow and favorite Fossil, so I can have to motivation to get somewhere with the story! It helps, every bit of it.**

 **Anyways, It's late, I'm tired, so I'll just be taking a quick twelve-hour nap. Bye!**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **-Phraxis**


	6. Fossil 6

**Hello once again my beautiful readers! I must apologise to you all, as I have fallen off the radar for X amount of months. It's been a while. Opps. Sorry about that.**

 **Anyway, I have spent a couple of months off, and am just now coming back into the writing phase of my life. I was aimlessly surfing , and I found my old story Fossil! I read it through, felt nostalgic, read the reviews, and as they were mostly positive, I felt guilty not doing anything to continue the story. So here I am.**

 **On with the chapter!**

 **XxXxX**

Hospitals are not fun. Ever. Hospitals are not, and never will be, any fun to me. Especially not when I have to spend a week in them without leaving.

Apparently, when those accursed Dustox attacked us, a lot more bit me than I had originally thought. As a result, I was confined to a hospital bed for a week, I had to get needles every single damn day, and Ken was laughing his ass off at me.

Ass.

It's not so bad. I got three full meals a day, I got unrestricted access to the TV, and Levi, Dice and I spent a lot more time just sitting and talking. Of course, they don't talk, but whatever.

I realised about three days into my stay that sitting inside with Levi for the remainder of the week would put a huge dent into our training time, and I still hadn't tested Dice, so I was pretty anxious to get out as soon as possible, as was Levi. I don't think the hospital staff enjoyed having Levi do a hissy fit in hallways. I sure didn't. He woke me up.

But all of that is behind me, and I was finally allowed to leave. My legs were a bit wobbly, but otherwise, I felt absolutely perfect. As soon as I left the hospital, I made a beeline to the Fields, which was the area around between the docks and the entrance of Rustboro City. It was about midday, so the place should be full of trainers and fisherman to battle.

Ken had tried to convince me to go get some food first, but I was adamant about going to train. Eventually, Ken agreed, and I headed off to the Fields. Ken went shopping for some necessities. He apparently battled a lot when I was stuck in the hospital, and so he had quite a bit of extra money.

Levi was anxious to battle, as always, and Dice looked pretty pumped up as well. I hoped there would be enough trainers to satisfy them.

XxXxX

Three hours and seventeen battles later, I was feeling pretty content. The cloudless sky, light breeze, good temperature, and my undefeated winning streak helped with that immensely.

The only notable exception was a pair of twins with matching Pokemon and surprisingly good combination moves. They challenged me to a double battle and almost had Dice for a second.

Levi, as always, tanked through everything without a blink.

After they lost to me, the two midgets claimed it wasn't fair I had such a high-leveled pokemon with me (I didn't, Levi was just awesome). Of course, me, being the jerk I am, commented about how it was unfair they gang up on individual people and extort them for money like thieves. They ran home crying, and I regretted nothing.

That is, until their brother came after me.

It was almost sundown, and beautiful streaks of paint decorated the sky. Clouds were dotted pink, and the distant trees of Petalburg Woods were illuminated in a deep purple light. Most trainers were going home, and I was just finishing a battle with some random fisherman I saw. Dice had just finished off his last pokemon (a magikarp, if you must know, and it was quite a pathetic creature) when a shout rang out across the clearing.

"Oi, you there! Yeah you, the dick with the Nuzleaf!" My head snapped around, searching for the owner of the loud and vulgar voice. I was the only trainer here with a Nuzleaf, so it was easy to guess who he was talking to.

My eyes landed on the most likely suspect - late teens, tall, lanky, long red hair, sharp nose, and bared pointed teeth - and I recalled Dice, flipping him back up my sleeve, so his Pokeball lay next to Levi's.

"What do you want?" I replied, only half nicely. I didn't like having others be mean to me, so I was acting pretty defensive.

He stalked over to me, his dark eyes sizing me up the whole way. He finally came to a stop right in front of me, and I noticed - with no small amount of irritation - that he was a good deal taller than I was. He poked me in the chest, hard.

I growled and batted his hand away. "What. Do. You. Want." I said slowly, enunciating each word slowly and carefully.

His eyes narrowed. "Earlier today, you beat two girls in a doubles Pokemon battle, right?" I blinked, somewhat confused. I remembered the girls, but the sudden change in topic threw me off guard.

"Yeah." I replied. "What of it?"

If possible, he glared even harder. "Those two are my little sisters, dammit! And when I get stories of how some asswipe made fun of them after beating them with high-leveled Pokemon, I go out looking for revenge, clear?" My now-confused brain tried to process what he said.

"Made..fun of them? What? When did I ever make fun of them? I never did anything mean, they were the ones saying I cheated!" I protested, loudly claiming my innocence.

He waved a hand in dismissal. "Doesn't matter if you did or didn't. Point is, you made my two little angels cry, and so I'm gonna crush you in a battle, take your money, and then go tell my sisters stories about how I wiped the floor with your ass, clear?"

I tensed. "So it's a battle you want, huh?" My hand dropped to my side, ready to flick out a pokeball. I felt Levi's pokeball rock softly, as if in anticipation.

"Yeah it's a battle I want, a two-on -two, with no switching out, and the winner gets half of the loser's money, clear?" I nodded, looking at the teen's pokebelt. Three pokeballs. If he only requested a two-on-two, then one must be new to the team, or weaker than his others.

Whatever. I was still going to win.

His hand deftly plucked a pokeball from his side and tossed it between us. "Zodd, I choose you!"

A burst of bright light dimmed my vision for a moment, but then it cleared, revealing a short, squat, and rotund little Pokemon. A dull expression lay on it's face, and it gazed aimlessly at me with disinterested eyes.

"Numel." It grunted.

It was all I could do not to laugh. All of that talk, and the guy sends out _this_ little thing. Levi could crush it in five seconds flat! Nevertheless, I remained professional, and only let off a slight giggle. I could tell he was glaring even more at me, but I didn't care.

With a flick of the wrist, Dice's pokeball appeared in my hand. He would do for now. If Dice lost (which was highly unlikely) then I could just send out Levi. He had an enormous fire resistance, which would help out against the Numel.

"Battle calls, Dice." With a brilliant flash of light, my newest Pokemon appeared triumphantly on the field. I noticed the wear and tear of battle had made him slightly stooped (I had been using him all afternoon), but he seemed eager to battle. I could just head to the pokemon center after this battle.

One more battle couldn't hurt, right?

"I'm Chaarsk. What's the name of the asswipe that needs a beatdown?" I blinked at him for a moment, confused. He sighed in exasperation.

"What's your name, duh? You're mean _and_ stupid, it seems." I frowned at his jabs.

"I'm Rook." With my introductions done, I backed up a bit to give Dice some room. Chaarsk did the same.

Both Chaarsk and I squared off, each facing each other down defiantly. Eventually, we were snapped out of our reverie by his uttered command.

"Numel, use Ember!" After grunting an agreement, Numel casually spat a burst of swirling embers at Dice. Without even a command, Dice jumped to the left, narrowly dodging the attack.

My eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second. That attack was fast, and it had almost hit Dice. Dice was faster than Levi, and Numel were pretty slow, so maybe it wasn't as bad a Pokemon I had once thought.

Regardless I would win. I hadn't lost yet (I ignored the part of me standing there with a big red sign that said NORMAN. Ignored it).

"Dice, use Pound! Hit the back of the head!" I cried, and Dice leapt to obey. His fist flashed out, followed by a dull thud of impact. I mentally cheered, and Dice jumped away from the Numel.

...Who just looked at us with that same disinterested expression. It made no indication it was even affected by the hit.

Well, hot damn, color me impressed.

Sure other Pokemon had taken a hit from Dice, but they had at least shown some damage from the hit. But no, this Numel was as solid and steady as a rock.

My opponent smirked. "It'll take a lot more than that to put down Zodd! Your punk-ass attacks won't affect him like that! Do your worst, ya shitstain!"

I frowned to myself. My usual tactic of clobbering enemies into submission didn't look like it would work this time. The Numel was too solid to simply keep Pounding it and hope for results.

Or maybe, it would work. I just needed a different approach to the same tactic.

An idea started forming in my head.

"Dice, dodge any attack it throws at you! Stay light on your toes, and try not to use a lot of energy!" Dice nodded once, and then settled itself into position.

The teen slashed a hand through the air, cutting through my thoughts. "Go, Numel, use Magnitude!" I tensed up a small bit in surprise. I didn't expect him to have this move, as not a lot of Numel could use it. May this was a special Numel, as I thought.

"Dice, jump up!" I shouted, and Dice leapt. But it was too late. Numel slammed its forepaws into the ground, unleashing huge tremors through the earth. Dice fell prone, his body wracked with pain.

Panic flared up within me, and I screamed out, "Dice! Get clear, quick!" My desperation bled through my voice like an open wound. Chaarsk smirked again.

"Get it now! Numel, use Flame Burst!" My eyes snapped to him, and his huge grin, and my panic surged anew, bleeding me dry.

"No!" I screamed. Dice staggered to his feet, weary. He glanced at me in confusion. Quickly I yelled at him. "Get the Numel on it's back, and use your strongest Pound!" He nodded, and then turned.

Right into the Flame Burst.

Dice's pained scream made me recoil in horror, but it wasn't over. I spotted a small figure, dark amongst the flames, lunging out. Dice's singed, burnt body leapt from the flames, and lunged straight at Numel. His little fingers wrapped around the underside of Numel's belly, and with a roar of effort, Dice flipped him onto his back.

His pale underbelly lay exposed, vulnerable.

"Go, Dice!" I shouted. "Pound attack!" Chaarsk's eyes widened, and he frantically tried to call commands to his Numel, but to no avail. Raising his fist into the air, Dice yelled and brought his arm down, hitting deep into the unprotected underbelly of the Numel.

I saw the creature's eyes go wide, whether from shock or pain I can't say, and it convulsed once before falling still.

Dice staggered away, spent.

We had won. It took the most amount of effort that we had ever used, but we had one. Of course, his sharp voice cut across my internal victory dance.

'Don't think you've won yet, dickhead. I still have another Pokemon." Oh yeah. That was a thing.

My eyes flickered over to the new pokeball he had in his hand, complete with little fire element decal on it. He must be a fire type trainer, his Numel was a fire type too.

Oh, right. The battle.

I raised Dice's pokeball, aiming to return him, but his voice cut across my action.

"No, you can't return your Nuzleaf. Dice, was it? Yeah, he stays out. Tenacious little bastard." I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off again.

"No, he stays. Remember the terms of the battle we're having? No switch outs. Period. Dice stays." I bristled. Can't he see how injured Dice is? He MUST know that fighting Dice in his condition will accomplish nothing. And since when was he allowed to call MY Pokemon Dice, anyway? That's my thing.

I gritted my teeth, but relented. He nodded once, satisfied, and threw his second pokeball.

"Let's go, Carla!" I almost started laughing again, but I refrained myself. I laughed at his other pokemon, too, and I was almost defeated for underestimating him.

A burst of light coalesced onto the battlefield, morphing into his second Pokemon. A long tail, thick legs, elongated head, and bipedal body formed before me, before the light cleared and revealed a Charmeleon.

Arceus dammit, this guy is just full of surprises, isn't he?

Wearily, I commanded my used and spent Pokemon to pound the foe before it. Dice leapt to obey, eager as always. However, his movements were noticeably slower, and he limped slightly with each step. His attack seemed sluggish, and Charmeleon evaded it with ease. He grinned wickedly, before calling out a command.

"Go, Carla, use Fire Fang."

The battle was over as soon as it had begun. Dice was spent, and the Chameleon was fresh, new, and uninjured. The moment she clamped her jaws around Dice, he fainted.

Dice had lost.

I was dumbfounded. I had expected another easy trainer battle when he had first challenged me. How wrong I was. I sure am glad I've kept Levi fresh this entire time.

I recalled my unconscious Pokemon quietly. I lightly pressed the small ball to my cheek, feeling oddly emotional. "You did amazing, bud. Even against a typing weakness you still came out on top. Rest well, Dice." I slipped his ball away up my sleeve, and prepped Levi for battle. Carla was tough, that much was true, but if I played to my strengths, I should be able to win without too much damage.

"Battle calls, Levi." I called, and my starter appeared in a regal flash of light. His head was held high, and his little necklace of feather protrusions magnificently framed his head.

Idly, I noticed that he had grown at least a few inches since I had gotten him from Birch back in Littleroot. How long ago was that, fifteen, sixteen days? Felt like more. I unconsciously felt a swell of pride for Levi, who had come so far in only two weeks.

"If you're done being sentimental, I'd like to finish wiping the floor with your sorry ass, dipshit." The teens sharp, penetrating voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I unconsciously blushed at his penetrating gaze.

"Sorry. Let's continue, right?" He nodded his consent. "I'm gonna kick your sorry ass. Let's begin Round 2!" He shouted. Carla leapt forwards, claws extended.

I was ready this time. "Levi, use Stomp!" With a grunt, Levi's foot came crashing down onto Carla, too fast for her to evade. She screeched in pain as a new mark was added to her hide, and was knocked back.

Chaarsk shot a hand forward. "Carla, use Ember!" A large mass of embers, much larger than Numel's had been, flew from her mouth towards Levi.

"Levi. charge through it and use Bite!" Another grunt, and Levi charged, his heavy form held close to the ground. The flames washed over him, and he appeared on the other side in an instant, looking unharmed. Mentally, I thanked the Legendaries for dual-typing, which gave double resistances.

Carla looked surprised that her attack had no effect, and her hesitation allowed levi to get through. His jaws clamped down on the back of her neck, and he threw her skyward. Her large form arced upwards, framed against the sun for an instant, and then she fell.

Right onto Levi's summoned Stealth Rocks. Bless his little soul for thinking ahead.

Carla screeched in rage and pain as she landed right on top of the sharp stones. She leapt off them and landed on two feet, ignoring the sharp stones that dealt more damage with each step she took.

A small red glow began to encircle Carla, and her eyes began to shine slightly. Chaarsk made a slight _tsk_ ing sound between his teeth, and started shaking his head.

"Now you've done it, idiot. She's going Blaze now. All I can do is direct the destruction. Sorry, your fault. Bye now, shithead." He raised a hand and pointed at Levi.

"Carla, use Dragon Rage." Her eyes glowed, and a torrent of blue energy burst from her maw, tearing towards Levi. He had no chance to react.

Levi, my dependable, unstoppable, solid little Levi was sent flying. He landed on his side, gauging a deep furrow into the earth before he came to rest against a tree trunk. He moaned weakly in pain, before flipping himself up. A low rumble escaped his jaws as he shook off the pain. He took a step forward, and then charged Carla, eyes burning with battle-fury. I realised that he was going to attack, and I could only direct him.

Chaarsk and I were in similar situations.

"Levi, use Bite again, but slam her against the ground while you're at it!" His eyes flashed with acknowledgement, and he leapt forward, evading another Ember.

His teeth burrowed deep into Carla's tough, scaly hide, and he raised her much larger body above him, before slamming her down to the earth, right on his Stealth Rocks. She writhed and screeched, and eventually turned her head towards Levi. Her jaws opened, and she bathed the area with blue flames.

I was tense, nervous, watching. So was Chaarsk. It was a violent battle of attrition now: either Carla would win, with her intense blasts of Dragon Rage, or Levi would win, with his continuous Bites, and the slamming into the Stealth Rocks.

Eventually, after several tense minutes of blue flames, screeches, and slamming against the ground, the dam broke. Levi whipped his head around and threw Carla off to the side. She landed hard in the dirt, making large drag marks. Her bleeding flesh quivered with each heavy breath she took.

With a pitiful warble, Carla collapsed, unconscious. Levi walked over, panting heavily. His eyes were calm, clear, and very weary. He was tired.

He reached the still form of Carla, and I held my breath, unsure of what he would do.

Levi raised one draconian foot, and planted it solidly on top of Carla's still form. Taking a deep breath, Levi raised his head and roared to the heavens. He roared to the now-dark sky, to victory, to Arceus, to all the Legendaries. He roared a challenge to life.

I let my breath out in a shaky sigh.

We had won. I couldn't believe how powerful Chaarsk was as a trainer, but we had won. I turned to congratulate Chaarsk on the amazing battle, but he was right there when I turned. His face inches from mine.

I stepped back hurriedly. His face was neutral, but I could definitely see some anger deep in his eyes.  
"Don't think this is over yet, Rook." I jerked, it was the first time he had said my name. "I will beat you, if it takes my life. Carla, Numel, all of my Pokemon and I will be the best, and I won't ever lose to you again. Until then, don't lose. I want to be the one to crush you beneath my boot."

With that, he recalled Carla, and strode off, disappearing into the night.

Levi came up behind me, and together we stood there, victors. I realised that the battle with Chaarsk was my first real challenge. Sure, Norman wiped the floor with me, but that's the point. He was hugely above my level, so it wasn't an actual challenge, for either of us. Chaarsk was the first person to actually test my limits.

It was _fun._

 **XxXxX**

 **And...cut! There we have it, the sixth chapter of Fossil! WOOOO!**

 **Again, my apologies for falling off the radar for a bit. I have no excuse. Please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me. They take forever to wash out.**

 **Let me know how you enjoy the story so far! Do you like Chaarsk, my newest edition?**

 **If you wanna beta, or help the story in any way, let me know in the reviews, or pm me. Y'know, the usual stuff.**

 **If you have an OC, or a Pokemon recommendation, please give it to me in the reviews. Fan support is nice, and while right now this story isn't that popular, I try to make it enjoyable to those who do read it. Thanks you all.**

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 **Thanks for reading.**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **-Phraxis**


	7. Fossil 7

**Hello once again to my beautiful and patient viewers! I love each and every one of you for taking time to be a part of my humble little story here.**

 **On with the chapter!**

 **XxXxX**

The next morning dawned bright and warm, painting the sky a deep pink color as an orange sun rose. I sat up in bed, blearily blinking away my sleepiness. I peered sleepily around the room, taking in the small bundle of Surskit and Lotad nestled together on the floor.

I glanced at the clock, and I felt a moment of surprise as I read the time 6:00, in big bold numbers. I never get up that early, even when I try. Usually, I go to at least 10:30 before rousing myself. I pushed the phenomena away from my head as I rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from my eyes and looked around the room.

Ken was still asleep in his bed, his lumpy form rising and falling softly with each breath he took. I distinctly heard the faint buzzing of insects outside, and the occasional birdcall. I watched with fascination as the soft dappled light danced across my pillow.

With a start, I realised how much more vivid I saw everything around me. I could _hear_ Ken breathing across the room, and I could _see_ the tree branches outside dancing slowly.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and pushed myself out of bed. I stood, cracked my back, and began scavenging for clothes to change into.

Something was different. I could _feel_ that something was different from when I went to bed the other day. Somehow, I just knew it.

XxXxX

I was finally allowed to have my Pokemon back around ten o'clock, with a warning from Nurse Joy to take it easy with them. I ignored her, of course. My Pokemon were tougher than that. They would survive anything I threw at them, and then ask for more.

After waking Ken up, I decided it was time to explore Rustboro. I hadn't gotten to all last week, and yesterday was spent catching my Pokemon up to their old level before our week off. Now I was fresh, ready, and eager to explore.

Ken, who had spent a week here already, navigated us through the bustling streets. I stared around, wide-eyed, at the towering buildings around me. Rustboro was a mostly metal city, and to me, who was from little old Littleroot, it was quite a sight. Towering skyscrapers dominated the sky, blocking out the majestic blue of the sky. Narrow alleys and wide cobblestone paths crisscrossed and intersected everywhere, and there were more people than I had ever seen.

It was slightly claustrophobic as well, but I ignored that.

I spent a good amount of time in the market sector of the city, looking at all the wares available. I saw many different people and things for sale, including a small purple bulb that supposedly made your Pokemon grow faster, lots of "magical" amulets that boasted numerous abilities, and lots of pokeball variations for sale.

I'm pretty sure I also saw some shadier dealings in the alleyways, but I left those alone and moved on. There was no way I would be caught up in any of that.

Eventually, Ken's growling stomach led us into a nice restaurant in one of the cleaner parts of the city. After flagging down a waiter, Ken proceeded to empty his wallet buying everything on the menu. I ordered a burger.

While we waited, Ken and I chatted about aimless things. Mostly our pasts. I regaled him of tales about my days as the town messenger, about how I ran to and fro, knocking over pokelab equipment and causing general havoc.

In turn, Ken told me about his past, about how he grew up in Slateport. I was momentarily saddened when I heard his older sister had died, but I soon cheered up as he told me about his various exploits when he was younger. He swam a lot, and he enjoyed to fish. He really developed a taste for battle when he was nine, after he saw a video of Champion Sandson defeating three challengers in a row with Earl, his Swampert.

When the food arrived, all twenty plates of it, Ken stopped talking and began to stuff every dish in sight into his open mouth. He couldn't even talk, he had so much food in his mouth at one time.

It was official, Ken was a glutton. May Arceus bless my wallet, for I will need it in the times to come.

XxXxX

After restocking my stock of potions, antidotes, and the like, I headed to an open training ground outside of Rustboro's west side. The imposing height of the Stone Co. HQ cast a shadow across my little clearing, but I paid it no mind. I was happy to be near trees, to be able to see the sky.

It was time to train my Pokemon.

After fiddling with Levi's pokeball for a second, I released him and instructed him to practice his new move. He got what I meant and walked away, heading to another clearing to practice.

After he was gone, I released Dice, who immediately bowed before me, questioning his summons. After picking him off the ground, I told him that we were going to try to get a new move for him.

You see, after the battle with Chaarsk, I realised that Dice was seriously lacking in the versatility department. He had no actual grass-type moves, and his only attack move was Pound. If I wanted to challenge Roxanne, I needed something more. Something better.

So, Dice was going to learn Razor Leaf.

After checking the move guide (a handy dandy little guidebook that details how to teach most moves), I showed Dice a small video of what Razor Leaf was supposed to look like.

After I made sure he had the idea firmly in his head, I made him practice.

And practice.

And practice.

Finally, after about four hours, Dice had reliably learnt Razor Leaf. When I commanded, he could launch razor-sharp leaves from his head nine times out of ten. A pretty good chance, if I say so myself. Using it more would increase his success rate, anyhow. It was all a matter of time now.

I called Levi back, who reported a success on his practice session, and then I recalled both of them. I slipped them both up my sleeves and then turned back to the pokecenter, and my warm room. And dinner. Can't forget that.

When I finally made it back to my room, I collapsed on the bed and released my Pokemon. With a flash, Dice and Levi appeared on my bed, making the frame creak under their weight. I didn't care. My Pokemon would stay on my bed, creaking be damned.

After eating a light dinner and feeding Levi seven food bars, we relaxed, talking (or me talking to them and them grunting back in their own strange way) and revisiting our past battles together. Levi and Dice seemed especially proud of our latest battle, and our subsequent victory against Chaarsk.

Later that night, when we were just resting and enjoying each other's presence, the door burst open, and Ken rushed in, carrying bags of stuff he bought and babbling excitedly.

"Come on Rook, get up, I've got something to show you, and it's freakin' cool, let me tell you! This thing will blow your socks off and take them away, guaranteed!"

I sat up, and Levi groaned in disappointment as he was forced to move over for me.

"Ken-what-what are you doing-no get that away from me-Hey! Don't give me your bags of stuff!"

Ken kept talking about this thing that he found, that would completely blow me away, and eventually he calmed down to be coherent.

"So, after you left to do your own thing, I was looking around the market some more, and this guy approached, and asked if I would be interested in looking at his stock. Naturally, I said yes, and he led me over to his stall."

I frowned slightly. This guy sounded a bit fishy, like the conman you see in movies. Also, Ken was acting different from usual. I'd never seen him this exuberant before, and it was slightly strange. Although, it may have just been a thing of his.

"Rook, it was amazing, he had this whistle that apparently called wild Pokemon to you, and he had this amulet that increased water attacks! Naturally, I bought it, and it actually works!"

I blinked, surprised. Usually, in movies and such, an item like that is questionable at best. The fact that it worked must have been amazingly lucky.

"So how much did it increase your attack by?" I asked, curious. He looked confused for a second, before his eyes lit up with understanding.

"Oh, no, I didn't buy the amulet thing, although it would have been cool. Nah, I bought the whistle for wild Pokemon!" My eyes widened, and I stood up.

"You mean it actually works?" At his nod, I almost fell back onto my bed. "How can you be sure? Isn't it unreliable or something?"

He laughed at my question. "No, Rook it works! I know, because when I used it for the first time, _this_ came out of the woods!" At his words, he held up a pokeball that was on his belt. One of three.

Which used to be two.

This time, I really did fall back onto my bed.

"You mean…"

He nodded, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Yup, I got a new Pokemon!"

Without a word of warning, he tossed it up into the air, where it spun, opened, and disgorged its contents onto the floor.

"Poliwag." Came a small voice, and I looked on in confusion. Ken's new Pokemon was apparently some small tadpole-ish creature, with dark blue skin and a spiral on it's belly.

"What Pokemon is that, Ken?" I asked, feeling slightly stupid. He looked over at me, incredulous.

"It's a Poliwag, Rook. A real, live, Poliwag." I shrugged.

"So?" He gave me another incredulous look.  
"They're super rare! I didn't even think you could _find_ them in Hoenn! I must be one of the luckiest people ever to capture this Pokemon!" He said loudly. The Poliwag glanced at him, before waddling over to him and cuddling against his leg. Ken grinned at me.

"Best of all, I think he's already attached to me, so I don't have to do any unnecessary bonding that is normally needed for new Pokemon and trainers. It's perfect! We were meant for each other." With that, Ken picked up his new Pokemon and snuggled close to it.

I felt genuinely happy for him. A new Pokemon on the team was always a big event for any trainer, and this was no exception. I was sure everyone would get along with the new addition.

XxXxX

After another day of exploring the city, they (Ken and my team) decided it was time to challenge the Rustboro gym leader, Roxanne. I, of course, was adamantly against it, being a firm believer in the theory that all gym leaders were evil and out to get me.

Nothing could persuade me.

Eventually, though, Ken must have gotten sick of my complaints and excuses, and he ended up dragging me across town to the gym itself.

Halfway there, I decided to walk by myself, as the last time he helped me to a gym, I had lost. Badly. My hand was still twitching with nervousness by the time I had arrived in front of the gym.

Large, iron double doors, inlaid with small gems and carved into various designs stood in the entrance, blocking all entry unless they were opened.

Ken seemed unimpressed, and I remembered that he had been here before. He had beaten Roxanne before, and he had a badge to prove it. _I beat him, so there's no reason I couldn't beat Roxanne_ , my brain reasoned, but my gut was firmly against it.

 _The last time you fought in a gym, you were crushed. Humiliated. Remember how beat up Levi was? Don't do that to your Pokemon again. It's ok to skip this gym, you can come back to it._ Reasoned my gut. Personally, I was agreeing with my gut.

Before I could come to a decision, however, the doors opened outwards, and shapes started moving inside. I squinted, trying to see through, and then they appeared in front.

"Get out, you miserable lowlife, I've told you before, if you aren't here to battle me, then don't come at all!" Shouted an angry female voice. She emerged from the hallway behind her, the sun glinting off of her long black hair, done up in a bun. A skirt flared outward from her legs, and her face was twisted up into a scowl. She was dragging a thrashing body behind her.

"Come on, Roxie, you know you love me! You can't hide your love forever! We are fated to be together, my love, so accept it!" Came a deeper voice, clearly male.

The body she was dragging was a man, and, as she came to a stop at the front of the doors, she tossed him out, face first. He landed with a heavy crash and muffled "oomph".

She snorted in anger, once, and then turned and disappeared back into the gym.

The man stood up, brushing himself off and muttering something under his breath. He stretched to his full height, and then sighed in satisfaction as several joints popped.

He was very tall, at least six and a half feet, with a shock of albino white hair on his head. His very thin body gave off a general air of malnourishment, and his unnaturally sunburnt skin seemed to glow softly.

"Oh, hello there, young lads. Off to challenge the gym, are we?" He asked, looking down at us (why is everyone I meet so damn tall?). I nodded once, somewhat respectfully, and Ken just shook his head.

"I've already beaten the gym, mister. What was that between you and the gym leader? She looked really angry." I groaned softly to myself. Ken and his big mouth always got us into trouble.

But the man didn't seem offended, in fact, he held a hand out for us to shake, which I did.

"I'm Tim Withers, nice to meet you, lads. That right there was a little spat between lovers." He grinned nonchalantly and then hiccuped slightly.

I wrinkled my nose. His breath smelled like alcohol. If he was drunk he seemed to hold it well.

Ken wasn't done with his questioning, though.

"Are you sure you're lovers? It looks pretty one-sided to me." He said, and this time I groaned louder. Damn him.

Tim shrugged, "Of course we're lovers! She just refuses to accept that it's fate. We're meant to be together, and nothing can keep me from my princess. The sooner she accepts my feelings, the happier we will both be." He smiled serenely to himself, before hiccuping again.

"...right…" Ken said, before turning to me. "Rook, let's just go get you a badge, and then we can head out, ok? Ok." With that, he pulled open the doors, whisked me through, and set off down the hallway.

Tim's voice echoed after us. "If you're going to challenge Roxie, then I wish the best of luck. She tends to stop holding back if her opponents are strong, and she's a gym leader for a reason." He cackled once, hiccuped twice, and then was gone.

I turned to Ken. "Did you see his belt?" I asked. He nodded, once. "Yeah. He's got a full team of Pokemon. Whoever he is, he's stronger than he looks."

And then we strode towards the gym, not looking back.

XxXxX

"This battle is between the challenger, Rook Evendur, and the gym leader, Roxanne! It will be a two-on-two battle. Switching Pokemon is allowed in this match. Gym leader releases first. Begin!" Came the firm voice of the gym trainer, and my eyes tracked Roxanne's pokeball as it flew through the air, before bursting apart.

"Geodude." Came the robotic voice, and the familiar shape of a Geodude materialised before me. I grinned ferally, caught up in the heat of battle, and released Dice. He would do better for sweeping Roxanne's original Pokemon, as her second one would probably be much harder than her first Pokemon.

"Nuzleaf!" Came Dice's cry, and he knelt before me, as always. I grinned down at him, and called out.

'Welcome to a gym battle, Dice. It's time to fight." Dice's eyes widened, and he turned around, taking in the solid Geodude floating in front of it. He jumped to his feet and turned, viewing the new threat.

I decided to start the battle.

"Dice, charge it, and then use Razor Leaf! Try to get under or behind it!" I called out, and Dice charged, flinging deadly razor-sharp leaves before him. Roxanne called a command, and Geodude's rocky skin hardened, blocking most of the leaves.

Dice appeared behind Geodude, and shot some more leaves point-blank, carving deep gashes in Geodude's back. It grunted with pain, and turned around, facing the enemy.

"Geodude, use Thunder Punch!" Yelled the gym leader, and I froze for a split second. It was enough. Without a command from me, Dice was unable to avoid the incoming fist, and was sent flying.

Why the hell did she need to have Thunder Punch?!

Dice picked himself up off the floor, and glanced at me, awaiting orders. I cleared my throat, before issuing orders.

"Try to get under it, keep using Razor Leaf. If it attacks, then for Arceus Almighty, dodge." Dice grunted his agreement and leapt forwards, ducking under another Thunder Punch and sliding under the floating Pokemon.

His head leaf glowed bright, and then a flurry of leaves arced out, inflicting deep gouges on the other Pokemon. When the storm of leaves passed, Dice rolled out from under the Pokemon, who promptly fainted.

Huh. I expected it to be much more difficult.

With a slight tsk, Roxanne recalled her unconscious Pokemon and released her second, and large and bulky thing with a big nose.

"Nosepass, use Rock Slide!" She said, and the Pokemon obeyed, causing a pile of boulders to tumble towards Dice. With a single leap, Dice cleared every boulder, and plummeted straight down, hitting Nosepass with a hail of leaves.

At this point, it was just dodge and attack with Razor Leaf. I had no other realistic options. There wasn't a loophole like there was with Numel's soft underbelly, and I had not other grass-type moves that would help Dice out. I simply had to be patient and I would win.

Eventually, the inevitable happened, and after barrage and barrage of Razor Leaves, Roxanne's Nosepass fainted, calling the match in my favor, 2-0.

Roxanne strode over to me, her eyes warm with pride. In one hand, she extended a badge out to me.

"I bestow upon you this Stone Badge, trainer Rook, for your dedication to battle and your overwhelming victory. You've more than earned this."

With trembling hands, I reached out and plucked the badge from her grasp, shakily stowing it in my small badge case, which I bought just the other day.

She extended her other hand towards me, a shiny TM case glistening in the lights of the room.

"This is TM 39, Rock Tomb. I regret that I had not been able to demonstrate this move to you in person, but you should find it useful nonetheless. It's yours now, take it." I grasped the device with my hand, eyes wide with excitement and energy.

"Thank you, Roxanne, for these gifts to a trainer like me. It means a lot." I managed to get out, before I turned and left. She was still smiling when I left.

I met Ken right outside the gym doors, where he was waiting to congratulate me. As soon as I approached, he clapped a hand on my shoulder and laughed.

"See, Rook? That wasn't so bad. You won, be glad you weren't crushed, like you were back in Petalburg." I glared half-heartedly at him for a moment, before smiling widely.

"Seriously, though, I expected it to be a lot harder than it was. It seemed...almost easy. Is that a bad thing?" I asked. He grinned a goofy grin.

"It means you're getting better, that's what it means! You got a Gym Badge, Rook! Let's go celebrate!" He cheered, and I allowed him to lead me away, smiling.

Gyms didn't seem as nerve-wracking as I thought. Maybe they weren't so bad after all.

Take _that_ , gym circuit. One day, I'd beat Norman. Revenge was going to be sweet.

XxXxX

Back in the gym, Roxanne grinned at the closed doors of the gym. That new kid, Rook, was pretty good. Maybe there was a reason the crazy professor gave _that_ Pokemon to him...

The shadows behind her twisted, and Tim Withers came strolling out from their depths. His eyes glinted in the low light of the gym.

"Ya think he's good enough, Roxie?" He questioned. She turned toward him, an indistinguishable expression on her face.

"Who knows. I mean, he did manage to easily beat me." She said. Her fingers lightly brushed her Nosepass's pokeball. She glanced at Tim. His eyes were full of mirth.

"You and I both know you could wipe the floor with him if you tried, Roxie." He said. He leaned back against the wall, watching her reaction. She smiled softly.

"I guess that is the point of being a Gym Leader. To guide the newer generation, to ensure they are strong enough to fix their own problems. I can only pray that he'll get stronger quick. He'll need it…"

 **XxXxX**

 **Cut! Here is chapter 7 done! WOOOOO!**

 **Sorry about the lame gym battle. I honestly couldn't see it going any other way without it being overly dramatic or cliche. Oops.  
In all seriousness, though…  
If you see a flaw in my writing, whether it be a spelling error, grammatical error, or a simple logic error on my part, also please let me know. **

**General reviews are very much appreciated, but flames will be used in my weekly BBQ session with my friends. Otherwise, tell me everything about the story, things you liked, disliked, stuff like that.**

 **Thanks to Benstu600, Sornosquinfallen, and Android Antimony for following and/or favoriting Fossil. Welcome to the cult.**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **-Phraxis**


	8. Fossil 8

**Welcome the the last chapter of Fossil, ladies, gentlemen, plants, trucks, and others.**

 _ **WARNING**_

 _ **THIS CHAPTER IS WHEN THE STORY GETS BUMPED UP TO AN M RATING.**_

 **Enough dawdling! We must continue! Onward! To the last chapter! WOOOO!**

 **XxXxX**

Ken and I left Rustboro late next morning, intent on reaching Fallarbor town as soon as possible. We had heard that earlier in the year, the path had been blocked to all people trying to enter Meteor Falls from Rustboro, but recently, someone came along who made a path through, so we're lucky.

Anyway, point is, we were determined to get to Fallarbor.

Ken and I both had our Pokemon out, enjoying the time together as we hiked along the path. Dice flitted from tree to tree laughing exuberantly as he leapt around above us. Levi walked next to me, his tail wagging in time with his footsteps. Lotad was perched on Ken's shoulder, and Surskit skated along the hard dirt path, chirping happily. Ken was carrying his new Poliwag in his arms, and the small creature was snoozing gently.

I heard the occasional rustle of Pokemon in the bushes, and once or twice a bird or two flew overhead, but for the most part, it was quiet. We hadn't passed a single trainer yet.

Strange.

As we walked, Levi would occasionally point out something that he found strange, like a flower growing upside-down from a tree branch, or an abandoned Pokemon burrow. I, being the incredibly gifted and intelligent and awesome person I am, would make up some kind of flashy story to go behind the phenomena (empty burrows aren't exactly legendary, but I had to do something to keep Levi happy).

Levi would do his little laugh-grunt thing, and his tail would wag a bit more, and Ken would be laughing at the absurdity of it all, and I would laugh because Ken's laugh is infectious, and eventually, we would all have to stop and take a breather.

I was surprised when it started getting dark. It seemed like all the stories and laughing had helped pass the time. After finding a small clearing, we set up camp, ate some travel dinners (they had no taste, but whatever), fed our Pokemon, and then retired for the night.

XxXxX

When I woke up the next morning, I knew it would be a bad day.

I received proof of this when I exited my tent and immediately noticed something wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

"Ken, where the hell did you do put my socks!" I heard a rustle, a thump, a small curse, and then Ken's voice.

"What socks?" He yelled back.

"Mine! What'd you do with them? If you took them again, I swear to Arceus almighty…"

"Dammit, Rook, not this again...I don't have your socks! They're probably under your sleeping bag, ya lazy turd! Check first!"

"Yeah, right, Ken. I know you have them. Come on out, and show me you don't have my socks! Prove it."

"See? My socks, Rook."

"No, you idiot, those are mine. See the logo there? My socks. Yours have different ones."

"Who the hell notices these things anyway?"

"Me, that's who. Give me my damn socks."

"Fine, fine. Here. But then where are _my_ socks?"

"Don't know. Don't care. Find them yourself."

"Ass."

And another day started. All was right with the world, and I had successfully stolen Ken's socks. They were nice socks, trust me. Definitely a good steal.

XxXxX

The opening to Meteor Falls lay before us, a great hole in the side of the earth that led us down and into it's depths.

Cool, misty air washed over my face as I set foot in the cave, and Ken sighed in contentment. My eyes adjusted to the darker shades of the cave, and we were off.

The only Pokemon I had out was Levi, and Ken had taken to carrying Poliwag around anyways, so they both stayed out.

Mighty stalagmites rose from the ground around us, and numerous stalactites clung to the ceiling above us. Drops of water fell from the spikes, causing a constant _drip drip_ sound to be heard as we walked down the hard stone path.

Bioluminescent mushrooms lit the sides of the pathway, and, not for the first time, I wished I had a camera. I resolved to get one at Fallarbor. Glowing mushrooms were _definitely_ cool, and I needed a camera.

Ken and I proceeded silently. It was so calm and peaceful and quiet in the cave, and I didn't want to disturb the tranquil stillness. Ken had similar ideas, along with our Pokemon.

Of course, if we would be good people and not disturb anything, someone else would. Just my luck.

"Well, well, lookie here. A pair of newbies." Drawled a voice from behind us. Ken froze behind me, and his Poliwag whimpered softly. Levi growled softly at the newcomers, hostility lacing his tone (when did he get so hostile?).

Two men stood behind us. They both wore dark colored lab suits, and had a pokeball in each hand. One of them had a thin scraggle of beard, and the other had an insane grin plastered against his face.

The scraggly one tossed one of his pokeballs up and down, over and over again. He glanced over our frozen forms, and then drawled out again, "Hey, Barrett. Ya think they've got any good Pokemon with 'em?"

His companions grin grew even wider, if possible, and his eyes flashed insanely. "Who cares? They're here, they have at least one Pokemon each, you know what the Boss said. Let's make them scream." He fished out a pokeball and threw it, releasing his Pokemon before us. His companion did the same, and the unnaturally bright light faded away, revealing their Pokemon.

…

…

…

What the actual _fuck_ are those things?

One of them looked like a bad cross between a Zigzagoon and a Nincada, with a zig-zag patterned shell, whiskers, and pincers. The other was _worse_ , and looked like a Mawile, with the mouth of a Feraligatr, and the giant arms of a Hariyama, which looked very out of place on such a small body.

Ken's eyes bugged out, and he choked on the back of his throat. I'm sure I wasn't much better. I was all I could do to not hurl just looking at them. Even worse was the _smell_. The two abominations smelled worse than a month-old garbage dump, with rotten eggs thrown in for good measure.

"What...what the hell are those things?" Wheezed Ken, and I could only shake my head at his question. I had no clue.

The two things (Pokemon?) took a step forward, and I was jolted out of my shock by insane cackling. The crazy one was hunched over, laughing. Laughing at me.

Laughing at us. Ken and I. My team.

Levi growled loudly from his position next to me, and I fumbled with my sleeve. Dice's pokeball flipped out, and out came my faithful Dice, ready for battle.

My eyes hardened, and I took a step forward, my Pokemon mimicking me. Ken recalled his Poliwag, and out came Surskit and Lotad. Ken nodded at me, and I gave the command.

"Levi, Dice, charge. Levi, just start biting, and Dice, you use Pound when there's an opening. Otherwise, stick to Razor Leaf." Beside me, Ken gave his Pokemon similar commands.

The scraggly one grinned slightly, before calling a command to his...thing.

"Subject C43, use Bite on the Nuzleaf!" The Mawile-ish thing's mouth swung around and snapped at Dice, who danced out of the way at the last second. Levi closed the gap between the two and clamped down on it's neck. Hard.

I winced when I heard something crack, and the Mawile fell still. Levi released its limp form, and then bellowed a victory roar.

Scraggly raised an eyebrow in surprise. He leisurely recalled his thing and then stepped backwards, exiting the battle.

I raised an eyebrow. Usually, people who talked about taking other's Pokemon wouldn't just back out like that. Then again, my only experience with bad guys was in movies, so I might be a little biased.

I turned to the other thing, wanting to help Ken with his battle, but he was already done. The Zigzagoon-Nincada mix thing was down for the count, soaked to the bone and unconscious. It's trainer pulled out a pokeball and called out, "Subject C39, return."

The grotesque Pokemon disappeared into the crazy one's pokeball, and the smell vanished with it. Thank the Legends.

The scraggly one turned to his still-grinning companion and said, "I expected more from this batch. Scientist Cilia said they were the next step." He shook his head despondently and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He flicked a lighter and inhaled the smoke deeply. A pokeball suddenly appeared in his hand, and he took another drag on his cigarette.

"Does this mean we have to actually fight them?" He said. If possible, his companion's grin grew larger.

"Oh yes," The insane one whispered, "I still haven't heard them _scream_ yet." He fished out a pokeball from his pocket, and they both hurled their pokeballs at us. One spit out a Dustox, while the scraggly one's pokeball formed a Baltoy.

I tensed up as I saw the Dustox. My fingers unconsciously stroked the scar on my arm where I was bitten in Petalburg Woods. I wanted payback.

"Ken, you take Baltoy. I got the Dustox." Ken nodded and turned to face his opponent, and I turned to face mine. We couldn't help each other on this one. If these pokemon were as tough as they looked, then we could not be distracted by each other.

I told Dice to stay back, and commanded Levi to step forwards. Both of my pokemon obeyed, taking their respective positions.

"You're not taking advantage of me? Only one on one? How honorable." The insane one commented airily. Suddenly, he glared at me, all humor gone from his face. "That's idiotic. That attitude will get you killed, kid." He straightened, and his eyes glinted. "On the other hand…" He said, "I'll enjoy destroying you. Tackle!"

The purple insect charged. It's body began to glow softly in the dim light of the cavern, reflecting off of the particles that fell from it's wings as it sped towards Levi. I smirked.

"Levi, take it. When it hits, use Bite!" I commanded. The Dustox slammed into Levi, pushing him back an inch or so (that's really impressive, actually). It seemed as though the attack didn't actually do anything to Levi, opened his mouth and crushed Dustox's wing between his glowing black fangs. I smirked again.

"Idiot. Normal type moves do barely anything to Levi. You could hit him day and night and it would barely do anything." I taunted. If that was all the guy knew, then this would be a piece of cake.

He ignored me and looked at his Dustox, which had managed to free itself from Levi's jaws and was now circling above us.

"Dustox, use Flame Burst! Raze it to the ground!" He cackled, and the Dustox obeyed, and shot a bolt of flame at Levi.

Color me impressed. I didn't think Dustox could learn that move. Maybe it was enhanced like his previous pokemon, but less obviously? I could think later, I was in battle.

"Levi, charge through it and use Stomp on it! Bring it down!" I commanded quickly. Levi charged forward immediately, rushing to meet the bolt of flame head-on. He ducked his head and jumped straight at the Flame Burst.

 _BOOOOOOM._

I gaped.

Levi was knocked back and on the ground. His scales were covered flames that would not go out. It was obvious he was in pain.

How the hell was _fire_ of all things hurting Levi? He had _double resistance_ to fire!

Dustox swooped down and hovered above Levi, and he began to beat his wings. Small particles of dust began to float down, and wherever they landed, the flames would grow larger.

Fuck! That was it! When the Dustox tackled Levi, he had coated my pokemon with that highly flammable dust! And I stood there and took the attack like a moron!

"But wait!" He crowed. "It gets better! These mystic flames of ours don't just burn the outside. They burn the inside, too! Even now, your precious little pokemon is slowly being melted from the inside out! Soon it'll be nothing more than a pile of ash and melted organs! HAHAHAHAHHAHA!"

"Levi!" I screamed, and I could hear my voice crack. I blanched in horror when a low groan of pain came from Levi. Levi _never_ complained about pain. _Ever._ My mind went blank as I imagined my starter melting before my eyes. I began to shake softly.

Beside me, Dice was very still, his face a mask. His eyes flashed with anger as he glared at the Dustox and it's trainer.

The insane one cackled loudly. "YES! THAT'S WHAT I LIKE! THAT LOOK OF HORROR ON THEIR FACES IS JUST. SO. BEAUTIFUL!" He moaned in pleasure, then he broke out into laughter. My jaw clenched tight.

"STOP IT!" I screamed at him. "STOP IT! YOU'RE KILLING HIM! YOU'RE KILLING LEVI! STOP IT! I'LL DO ANYTHING, JUST STOP!" I was practically begging now, I could hear it in my voice. I would do anything if it meant keeping Levi alive. His eyes passed over my shaking body, and he stopped laughing abruptly.

"The best part is," He said, so softly I almost couldn't hear, "Is that your pokemon is resistant. That makes it even better." He grinned slowly, and licked his lips. His insane eyes stared right into mine. "The longer they last, the louder they scream…" He began to chuckle softly.

That bastard.

He's killing my pokemon.

My starter.

My Levi.

Mine.

He won't take that away from me.

I won't let him.

I won't let him kill Levi.

"Dice." I said. He tore his gaze off of the whimpering Levi and looked at me. His eyes were filled with confusion, anger, and sadness. I looked him right in the eye.

"Dice." I repeated. My voice became flat. "See that human over there?" I looked over my cackling enemy. Dice nodded. I closed my eyes. Arceus forgive me.

"Good. Use Razor Leaf." Dice's eyes grew wide. He stared at me, then he slowly turned his gaze to Levi, thrashing about in pain. My gut twisted as I thought of the agony Levi was going through. Slowly, Dice nodded. Then he vanished in a swirl of motion.

Insanity had stopped laughing and was glaring at Levi. "Hey!" He yelled down at my dying starter. "Why aren't you screaming? You're being liquefied inside out! Scream! Scream dammit! I said I wa-" He was cut off abruptly. He made a choking sound, and his hands flew to his neck. Insanity drew his hand back and his jaw dropped. Slowly, he turned his disbelieving gaze to me. I met his gaze impassively.

Slowly, his head toppled off of his shoulders and hit the ground with a low _thud._ Without the head, the body crumbled as well, landing solidly on the ground and not moving.

Not even a twitch.

Dice appeared in front of me, his face somber (I'm not good at reading the faces of pokemon but it was obvious what he was feeling). I knelt down and stroked the top of his head softly, trying to find solace in his company. I needed it.

The Dustox, with no master to command it, had ceased creating the spectral fire burning Levi and had landed next to the corpse of its deceased master. I ignored it for now. Levi was primary concern.

Dice and I rushed over to our unmoving companion. Levi was silent and still, laying there on the floor. I fell to my knees and layed my trembling hands on Levi's side.

 _No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO._

The Dustox's fire had left long burn marks all across Levi's hide, the burnt flesh contrasting with the brown of his now-dull scales. Long scorch marks arced their way up and around his shoulders, and one big burn was on the side of his stomach.

My lip began to tremble as I slowly stroked my hand along Levi's still-warm body. I felt the tears begin to form in my eyes as I searched for a sign of life. A heartbeat. Breathing. Movement. Anything.

Nothing.

Levi was completely still.

Hot rage began to burn in my stomach, furiously clawing its way up, through my throat. Closing my eyes, I leaned over Levi's corpse and _screamed._

 **XxXxX**

 **There we go! Have a nice day now that you read through the last chapter! Ta-ta!**

' **Till Next Time,**

 **\- Phraxis**

 **p.s. I wrote this ending for fun on a separate document. The original had Levi surviving (barely) and needing to be hospitalized, but I liked my separate ending much better than the original. So, this is the ending I used. Sometimes in life things just come out of left field and hit in the face with a brick. I tried to achieve that feeling. I had foreshadowed and set up potential plotlines for most of the story, but when I wrote this ending I liked it too much to not use it.**

 **p.p.s. Let me know if I should continue the story or just leave it here.**


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